LANDscape [Portugal] | School of Reparar 2024 [Ed#5]

SCHOOL OF REPARAR 2024 | Ed#5 'TY'

LANDscape | Retreat-Course

Rituals for Dis-cerning & Inseparating | Nest & Flock: the Re(e)nunciation of the Irreparable

Developing the Modus Operandi AND + Embodied political-affective practices, with the concept-tools of the year, Dis-cerning & Inseparating

with Fernanda Eugenio + Companion Practices with AND Collective members

July 26th - August 3rd, 2024

Host: Trust Collective, Barril de Alva

Partnerships: Quinta da Rosa, Casa do Povo do Barril de Alva, Centro Social e Paroquial de Côja

Trust Collective: Rua Albertino Madeira, 76 - 3305-020 - Barril de Alva e Benfeita, Portugal

Casa do Povo: R. Joaquim Silvestre S/N, 3305-020 Barril de Alva

[+ about School of Reparar]

THE PROPOSAL

As an immersive landscape-programme, the LANDscape retreat-course unfolds as a journey of artistic-political, collective and embodied research into the ethical and communal tools of the Modus Operandi AND and the constitution of a body of implication in repairing the Irreparable.

Lasting for a week, the programme emerges each time from a different sensitive key, given by the annual theme-issue of the School of Reparar. In focus in 2024:

> the new concept-tool of 'dis-cern-ment', as an operation that provides access to inseparability at the level of sensation and direct experience.

> the frequentation of the modes of 'being (in a) nest' and 'being (in a) flock', as ways of individually and collectively gestating 'renunciations and re-enunciations' which, in turn, can allow for the interruption of entrenched systemic violence and subjective reorientations away from the modern, individualistic and anthropocentric illusion of the human point of view.

Bringing together different relationship interfaces - transmission-sharing in workshop mode; collaborative research-creation; daily attendance of body and relational practices with the surrounding nature; listening, accompanying and caring for matters of intimacy and coexistence - each LANDscape constitutes a unique experience, interconnected as a whole by a durational performative-ritual dimension, which permeates all the propositions, integrating them into a single practical and reflective course and a single emerging dramaturgy of trans-form-action, (self-)reparation, re-historicisation and restoration.

Led by Fernanda Eugenio and with the support of fellow practices by members of the AND Collective and guest artists, the journey begins with small-scale AND board games, towards practices in which the body as a somatic-political aggregate becomes a board for care-healing games, and also includes outdoor games dedicated to researching inseparability with a more-than-human biodiversity, in the encounter with beings such as herbs and plants, earth and river.

The workshop mode occupies the first two days of the immersion, sharing the conceptual tools that make up the language, modulation of presence and ethics of MO_AND, establishing a common ground so that we can, together, risk entering a more complex plane of sensitive and experiential research, at once political and affective, intimate and collective, concrete and magical, of performative-ritual modes of ex-conjuration of the systemic Irreparable.

School of Reparar's LANDscape programme takes place twice a year, once in Portugal and once in Brazil, in locations far from urban centres, in a proposal of immersion and focus close to nature, interspersing studio and outdoor work.

In Portugal, the programme takes place in the village of Barril de Alva, near the Serra do Açor and Serra da Estrela, in the Coimbra region, having Trust Collective as our host partner and, in this edition, with the partnership of Quinta da Rosa, Casa do Povo do Barril de Alva and Centro Social e Paroquial de Côja.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Total openings: 24 (18 for Full Participation and 6 for Partial Participation (no grants or early bird discounts on this modality);
• Language: the course will be facilitated in Portuguese, with simultaneous translation into English (simultaneous translation support: Camila Ganc, local artist and AND Lab partner through the Quinta da Rosa project);
• Prerequisites: none. It is recommended, but not mandatory, that the person has attended a previous module at Escola do Reparar or had some other form of contact with the Modus Operandi AND;
• Certificate: a final certificate of participation will be issued upon request.

FEE & PAYMENT

• Participation values ​​and modalities indicated in the ticket options below, after the event details;
• You can choose to participate only in the introductory weekend, from July 26th to 29th (choose the 'Partial | Introduction Only' ticket);
• For Full Participation, there are discounts for early registrations until May 31st (40% - Lot 1) and June 30th (30% - Lot 2);
• Registration includes: course (full/partial), lunch, snacks & kit tote bag + poster '10 positions before the irreparable'
• You can choose to include accommodation in your registration, whether for full or partial participation (select the registration ticket + the corresponding accommodation ticket);
• Secure online payment via PayPal/cards or offline via MBWay/bank transfer (data provided in the order confirmation email);

Important: if you are able to pay the full amount, even if you are registering within the early registration period, consider doing so, as this will make it possible to offer more places with scholarships to those who need them.

GRANTS

• In all School of Reparar activities, we offer grants for 25% of places, for racialised people; disabled people and/or other dissident corporealities; LGBTQIA+ people; people affected by gender and/or social class inequalities; unemployed people; migrants; refugees;
• For this retreat course, grants will only be offered for full participation. There will initially be 6 places with a -50% grant and 2 places with a -75% grant, with the possibility of offering more if we have more enrolments paying the full price;
• The grant discounts are applied to the full price of the course (500 euros), so the enrolment with a -50% grant is 250 euros and the enrolment with a -75% grant is 125 euros, plus the accommodation fee of 140 euros, if the successful applicant chooses to stay at Casa do Povo;
• To apply for a scholarship: choose the ticket option "Scholarship Request" and send the form, with your profile and the reason for the request. We will return shortly about the possibility of granting the scholarship and the completion of the registration.

SUPPORT FOR THE TRIP

• If necessary, letters of acceptance may be issued to allow the participant to apply for support for the trip and/or the course;
• For participants residing in the EU, there is the possibility to apply, until May 31st, to the Culture Moves Europe program, in order to request funding for the trip: https://culture.ec.europa.eu/news/apply-now-new-culture-moves-europe-call-for-artists

 __________________________________________________________________________________________

WHERE WE WILL LIVE/WORK

The course-retreat activities will take place between Trust Collective's studio and the surrounding nature of Barril de Alva, a small village located in central Portugal, belonging to the municipality of Arganil, in the district of Coimbra.

Barril has less than 300 human inhabitants and is also home to many herds of goats and sheeps, donkeys, birds and the great goshawk (açor), which gives its name to the nearest mountain range - Serra do Açor. The village is also not far from Serra da Estrela, and is surrounded by mountains, lying on the banks of the River Alva, with many river beaches and hiking trails.

Trust Collective is a transdisciplinary and international artistic platform located in the village of Barril de Alva, which encourages creation and co-operation in a close relationship with the surrounding nature, the community and the local territory. The Trust project was born out of the belief that trust is the fundamental basis for establishing practices of friendship and intimacy that enhance the collective and the community. The Trust has a mother house that will house the retreat team and two work studios, a community hall, vegetable gardens, fruit trees, gardens, a wood-burning oven and a beautiful view of the mountains, just a five-minute walk from the River Alva.

You can learn more about the Trust Collective here: https://trust-collective.org/

ACCOMMODATION

• Those who sign up for accommodation will have access to daily dormitory accommodation in the Casa do Povo, which will also host all the course meals, served at outdoor tables in the garden. Casa do Povo has a large, airy lounge with a fireplace divided into a living area and a mattress area; bathrooms with hot showers, a kitchen and a garden with outdoor tables. Please note that there are no individual rooms. It is located in the heart of the village of Barril de Alva, a 10-minute walk from Trust Collective;
• Alternatively, if you have a caravan, you can stay for free in the village's Caravan Park, which has bathrooms with showers and a bar/restaurant and is a 5-minute walk from the Trust; or, if you come by car, you can opt for the campsite in Côja (a town 6km from Barril) and make the daily journey to attend the course on your own;
• There is also some local accommodation on offer in Barril itself or in the surrounding area, either in rooms or entire houses. If this is your option, it's best to book in advance as it's the holiday period. If you are interested in sharing the rental of a house with other participants, please indicate this on the registration form so that we can put you in touch with other interested participants.

FOOD

• The course enrolment fee includes a vegetarian lunch and snacks (fruits, cookies, teas).
• Those who choose to stay at Casa do Povo will also have access to a self-service breakfast and a vegetarian dinner.
• The meals will be cooked by Tom Adey, from partner project Quinta da Rosa, using organic vegetables grown and harvested directly by him and his partner Camila, other selected ingredients and a loving perspective on cooking;
• If you have any dietary restrictions, please let us know on the registration form and we will do our best to accommodate it in each day's menu. If you have any restrictions that we are unable to cater for, we will let you know in good time so that you can bring complementary items and/or items that are not available in the region.

WHAT TO BRING

• There are no ATMs, pharmacies or shops in Barril de Alva. The village has only a small grocery store with basic items, a café and a bar/restaurant next to the caravan park. So you should bring cash and any medicines you might need, as well as any specific items that you won't find in the village.
• Essential items are: toiletries, sun cream, insect repellent, a hat, enough comfortable clothes and shoes for the days of your stay (there's no way to wash your clothes), a swimsuit and a towel for swimming in the river. If you prefer, we also suggest bringing aquashoes (the River Alva has slippery stones).
• If you're staying at Casa do Povo, you should bring a bath towel. Sheets, blanket and a pillow will be provided. We also suggest that you bring a sleeping mask and earplugs.

HOW TO GET THERE / TRANSPORTATION

• Travel costs are not included in the registration fee and is the responsibility of each participant;
• There is no direct public transport to the village of Barril de Alva. The nearest bus stop is in the village of Catraia do Mouronho, which can be reached by Rede Expressos buses. Tickets can be purchased online here: https://rede-expressos.pt/pt
• A transfer from and to the bus stop will be organized from there at the following times: for arrival on July 26, at 14:15; and for departure on July 29 (partial participants) or August 3 (full participants), from Casa do Povo at 10:45 (buses leave at 11:20);
• A carpooling board will be made available after the end of the registration period, to allow direct contact between interested participants and self-management of carpooling.
• If you're coming by car, you can use the following coordinates: Trust Collective - GPS Coordinates and Casa do Povo - GPS Coordinates;
• It takes about 10 minutes to walk from Casa do Povo to Trust Collective.

__________________________________________________________________________________________ 

ABOUT MO_AND

The Modus Operandi AND (MO_AND) is a methodology for the ethical-aesthetic, somatic-political and experiential investigation of relationship and reciprocity, based on the radical commitment to repair the Irreparable, created by anthropologist and artist Fernanda Eugenio.

Mobilizing a constellation of concept-tools and game-propositions, MO_AND propitiates the direct and experiential investigation of the mechanisms of living-together, that is, of the composition practiced as ethics of positioning-with, through the exercise of the Reparar: to stop again (re-parar), to make the inventory-invention of the possible each time (reparagem), and to effect repair through the durational care-curation of relationships (reparação). By practicing an embodied consciousness and modes of doing based on the circumscription of the common and the performativity of affect, which place thinking, feeling, and doing on the same plane, MO_AND paves the way for the emergence of collaborative landscapes and territories of sufficiency, based on the co(m)passionate exercise of presence and the reconnection with the sensitive experience of inseparability.

MO_AND offers concrete tools to enhance processes of collaboration, co-learning, and negotiation of coexistence. In particular, it allows the perception of behavioral patterns and relational tendencies, contributing to the development of emotional self-regulation skills, self-management of attention (selection, focusing and coordination of stimuli), and consequent decision making and respective embodiment.

In the scope of the workshops, the 'board game' interface is the one that serves as the basis for sharing, then unfolded into different more complex exercises, with different scales, in the studio or in outdoor space, depending on the group and the duration of the meeting.

In this game there are no pre-established rules, but immanent rules, which emerge from the game itself, that is, from the co-positioning and co-responsibility of those who participate. Through a work of folding and unfolding and direct handling of the materiality of events, it is possible to embody the issues of coexistence, sustainability, creativity, empathy/sympathy, availability to difference, and reciprocity.

The exercises allow participants with the most diverse interests and profiles - coming from any area, having or not previous contact with each other or with the MO_AND - to share the same plane of disquiet, experiencing in an intimate and collective way the ethical-political and affective issues involved in the co-responsive construction of the common.

__________________________________________________________________________________________ 

POLICIES

• Withdrawal: up to 20 days before the start of the activity, full refund.
• From 20 days before the start of the activity, there will be no full refund. The cost of accommodation and meals will be deducted from the amount already paid and the remainder can be used as a credit for future registration for another AND Lab activity;
• Image capture: registration presupposes agreement to the collection of images during the event for the purposes of recording, documenting and disseminating the research.