The act of remembering can be a very active gesture.
A dynamic movement made in time and space.
“To remember” for philosopher Donna Harraway could be read as to re-member, to put back together.
When thinking about a body, it means putting back the pieces together, trying to make it whole, dignified again.
Ana Pi is taking us back, to memories and past experiences.
As we walk through Museo Civico in Bassano del Grappa, we are suddenly brought back to past residencies in Vitry-sur-Seine.
Re-membering
A soul train at La Briqueterie on a festive night shared with Lá da Favelinha.
Kader Attia’s reparation line at the entrance of MAC VAL, mirrored in a crack in the floor in Bassano.
A little girl called Destiny taking the dancefloor at La Briqueterie.
An exercise to hold the pose, made online during lock down times proposed by Ana, made now inside the museum. Staying put for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in a position challenging to hold. This is the exact amount of time George Floyd stayed under the knee of the policeman who killed him in 2019. A spine-chilling moment every time.
Walking outside, standing in a circle in the cloister, each one of us is invited to share a scar, and a statement in the middle. It takes some time to heal and to recognize the process of injury Ana says.
“Missing Europe” are the words Betsy shares in the middle. Remembering that UK was part of an European project when we began.
Re-membering by being here this afternoon and closing the time of our presence here with this word, which entices us to be active in the ways we can hold memories and missing or untold stories close to our hearts and bodies.
