Signal becomes Feral

Interventions in public space

knowledge and tactics

Barefoot in the grass, Feral invited the audience to observe the mutations of art in public space. Sensitive provocations, changes of perspective and a little dirt under the fingernails were on the programme.

The city has long been considered the space of artistic freedom par excellence, but the lack of space during the epidemic peaks and the threat of an uninhabitable land have accelerated the great rural revival. People are leaving the city to take care of the land and experiment other possible ways of living.

Of course, artists are caught up in this movement. Some leave the city, others create new ways of circulating. New forms and fruitful imaginaries are born from these contexts. Meanwhile, in the city and its fringes, eco-poetics and the wilderness are also making their way. Artists and activists are creating works in solidarity with their neighbours, sparrows, eagles, fern and forget-me-nots.

Is the traditional binary opposition between urban and rural being overcome? What if our relationship with nature was also being reinvented within the city?

Programme

knowledge and tactics (stories of experience, conversation and workshops), artistic interventions in public space (performances, screening, rituals, walks) and even a Waterbus ride on the canal!

We shared our stories, went to the borders of the city, exchanged our ideas on alternative models, raised questions of privilege, questioned the gentrification of the countryside, learnt from the soil, built new commons, confronted the politics of food production, distribution and consumption by visiting the shelves of our local supermarket, sewed seeds and ideas and celebrated.

We started the journey rue de Flandre (La Bellone) and then moved towards the fringes of the city, to the fields of Neder-over-Heembeek (Le Début des Haricots urban farm) and beyond (Open Akker) in Dilbeek, in order to tread the soils where the new imaginaries are slowly aggregating.

Day #1 - 21/09

Morning at La Bellone - conversations and cross-views
Afternoon at the farm of Le Début des Haricots
Evening - Dinner and film La Restanza in the open air at the farm.

Day #2 - 22/09

Round tables, performances, workshops and rituals at Urban farm Le Début des Haricots

Day #3 - 23/09

All in the field! Afternoon at Open Akker, Dilbeek - collective and choreographic action in a field (Open Akker, Dilbeek)

With

Pamina de Coulon (CH), Phoebe Davies (UK), Super Terram (BE), Bram Van Cauwenberghe & Amy Franceschini & Livia Cahn from Open Akker (BE), Zoë Palmer (UK), Sam Trotman (UK), Alessandra Coppola (IT), Chloé Deligne (BE), Alix Gigot from La Semeuse / Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers (FR), Oscar Cassamayor & Valérie Maione from Back2SoilBasics (BE), Wapke Feenstra from Myvillages (NL), Alicja Rogolska (PL), Gosie Vervloessem (BE), MOSSS (BE), Amy Franceschini from Futurefarmers (BE)

Feral is an action by the Cifas, a place of experimentation and co-learning for performing art in the city and its fringes.

Feral: relating to an animal or a plant having reverted to a wild state. Also used for plants that grow in the gaps.

General and artistic Direction : Marine Thévenet
Coordination : Charlotte David
Production : Mathilde Florica
Intern : Gaspard Catteau
Technical direction : Vincent Tandonnet
Artistic advise and writing : Anna Czapski
Production/Runner : Britt Roger Sas
Production assistant : Laura Oriol
Photographer : Bea Borgers
Moderation : Anna Rispoli
Facilitation : Jessica Champeaux and Flore Herman
Traces : Céline Estenne
Translation : Préférences SF
Catering : Apus et les Cocottes Volantes
Open air screening : Libération Films
Bike parking : Brik

With the presence of ARBA's Master 2 Urban Design students, under the direction of Alice Finichiu.

Cifas is a programme supported by COCOF and Actiris.

Feral Festival is a programme organised in co-production with La Bellone/Maison du Spectacle and in collaboration with the Urban Farm Le Début des Haricots. With the support of the City of Brussels and RACC.