Saturday 21 March 2026
3:00pm to 8:30pm
With performances by Sara Basta, Paolo Canevari, Aurelio Di Virgilio, Bruna Esposito, Fabio Giorgi Alberti, margaretha jüngling, LU.PA
With contributions by Merce Cunningham, Gaia Di Lorenzo, Nan Goldin, Paul Maheke, Andrea Martinucci, Fiamma Montezemolo
curated by Adrienne Drake, Ilaria Gianni, Pier Paolo Pancotto
To be is to be in relation brings artists and audiences together around a simple but urgent question: how do we relate to one another? The project unfolds as a series of performances and artworks that approach connection not as an abstract idea but as something practiced—through attention, presence, and shared time.
It takes inspiration from the thinking of writer Édouard Glissant, who described existence as fundamentally relational: “to be is to be in relation.” His ideas imagine connection less as a fixed structure and more as a living network—decentralized, interdependent, and always changing. In nature, the underground networks of mycelium offer a compelling image for this way of thinking: a web of threads that supports life through exchange, communication, and mutual dependence. This afternoon considers what it might mean to approach human relationships in a similar way.
Rather than focusing on individual works presented in isolation, time unfolds as a set of encounters that build on one another across the day. Performances and artworks appear, shift, and activate the space at different moments, inviting visitors to move as participants rather than spectators. Some unfold slowly and quietly, asking visitors to pause and spend time with them. Others introduce situations in which participation becomes part of the work itself. The aim is not to present a fixed narrative but to create conditions where encounters can emerge unpredictably.
Friendship also plays an important role in this context. Many of the participating artists have ongoing relationships with one another – collaborations, shared projects, or informal networks of support. These connections shape the atmosphere of the programme, suggesting that artistic production often grows from bonds that extend beyond the studio or exhibition space.
To be is to be in relation invites us to consider relation not as a given but as a practice: something that must be cultivated, sustained, and continually reimagined together.
PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME
15.30-16.00
Sara Basta, Cura compostabile, 2026
public reading and performance; 30 min.
16.00-18.00
LU.PA, OLO #2_score for four bodies, 2026
action for four performers, graphite and eraser on wall; 120 min.
5:00-5:20 PM
Fabio Giorgi Alberti, Waving My Words in the Air, 2026
performance with ten participants, ten white paper props, and a few words; 20 min.
5:30-5:50 PM
Bruna Esposito, Alive, 2026
performance; 20 min.
6:30-8:00 PM
Paolo Canevari, 1+1, 2001
performance
7:15-7:35 PM
Aurelio Di Virgilio, LYNX LYNX, 2025
performance; 20 min.
in conversation with Andrea Martinucci, Guardaroba, 2025 and Andrea Martinucci, Tele Trance, 2025
8:00-8:30 PM
margaretha jüngling, service // gestures between layers, 2026
reading and performance; 20-30 min. circa
With thanks to the Istituto Svizzero