The culture, education and patrimony department of the Formentera Council is lending its support the forthcoming second edition of Collective Signatures, a cultural initiative partnered with Venice International Performance Art Week, Studio Contemporaneo, ED 520 École Doctorale des Humanités (a division of the University of Strasbourg) and Formentera Film.
At the core of the Collective Signatures programme are gatherings organisers call "itinerant residencies", though they could just as easily be described as artists' retreats. The latest will take place on the island from November 12 to 22. In addition to fostering reflection and thoughtful critique around the cultural questions of our day by encouraging participants to write and create, organisers put special focus on the value of creative and experimental writing—whether performed individually or as part of group.
During the retreat, participants learn by doing as they complete a series of artistic challenges and hands-on exercises which incorporate a range of corporal, gestural, sensorial, verbal and intellectual elements. Just what inspires this edition's particular slant? Formentera itself and the island's surrounding natural beauty. Organisers hope experiences at the retreat will push artists to reflect, write, act, produce texts and explore new writing strategies tuned to the sights and shapes so unique to the island.
Sharing work with the community
Apart from the retreat, Collective Signatures will also stage two productions at the cinema (Sala de Cultura)—islanders' chance to sneak a peek at the project.
At 7.00pm on Saturday November 17, Marcel·lí Antúnez will present Systematurgy. Accions, Dispositius i Dibuixos. In what Antúnez describes as a "mechatronic conference", the artist traces his career from its start in the nineties to today. Next up audiences will see Signum, a short film shot on Formentera by VestAndPage that received the support of Francesca Carol Rolla and La Pocha Nostra.
For the retreat's final act, scheduled for Thursday November 22 at 8.00pm, participants will take the stage for a series of individual and group performances and assorted readings based on activities led by VestAndPage, Antúnez and Rolla. At once creative and collaborative, the closing performance will spotlight original work conceived and produced during Collective Signatures.
The Formentera Council's environment office reports that the administration is partnering with GEN-GOB and the Balearic ministry of environment to stage a cleanup this Saturday in a bid to clear piles of small rocks near Es Trucadors.
Social welfare secretary Vanessa Parellada sat down with Espai Dones chairwoman Dolores Fernández Tamargo and Azucena Carrasco, a specialist in the social welfare office, to unveil the slate of activities lined up to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. This year's catchphrase is “Vives ens volem”, or roughly translated, “Keep us alive”.
This Saturday, November 10, as part of a week-long activities programme to mark International Day of Action for Trans Depathologisation, the Majorcan performing-arts company Baal will be on the island to present CROTCH, a dance-heavy performance which explores gender identity, to local audiences.
Observance, this November 20, of Universal Children's Day can be traced to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, two appeals for guaranteed access to sound living conditions and opportunities which promote the development and wellness of the whole child.