The Performance of Funga

Sara Manente's projects always start from the images and matter of living cultures and fungi in relation to performing arts. In different formats, she reflects on the possible contagion/transfer between pedagogy, research, performance and publication. Last season, her exhibition Towards a Ruined Theater was displayed at Pilar. To close the exhibit, Sara invited several artists and/or researchers to delve into the intersection of fungal studies, contemporary performance, and ecological consciousness. Together with Giuliana Furci and Augusto Corrieri she invites us to reconsider our relationship with the living world and the transformative potential inherent in embracing the fungal realm.

The realm of fungi challenges our conventional notions of individuality, intelligence, collaboration, immunity, and mortality. While it is being extensively studied for its innovative applications and its therapeutic properties, there remains a vast terrain awaiting exploration. By immersing ourselves in the study of moulds and engaging with mycelium in collaborative efforts, we invoke a rich fungal imagery. Embracing the concept of ‘mushrooming’ as a methodology also prompts contemplation in the vitality inherent in live arts. Moreover, if we acknowledge that performance and theatre are akin to living ruins, constantly undergoing transformation, how do we approach their impermanence, adaptability, and interconnectedness within larger ecological systems? The talk, which was organised as part of A Series of More-Than-Human Encounters was moderated by Dr Eylül Fidan Akıncı and can now be viewed in its entirety.

• Giuliana Furci, an internationally renowned field mycologist and author of numerous guides, as well as the founder of the Fungi Foundation – the world’s first NGO dedicated to fungal conservation – will share insights into her discoveries, advancements in fungal technologies, and the evolving landscape of mycology. 

• Sara Manente contributes her perspective, reflecting on her recent projects and collaborative endeavours, including MOLD, RUINED and ROT magazines and garden.

• Augusto Corrieri is an artist, writer and researcher. His work focuses on questions of ecology, performance and perception. He has repeatedly turned to scenes of apparent emptiness and inactivity, for example with his book In Place of a Show: what happens inside theatres when nothing is happening (Bloomsbury). His performances and lectures have toured across Europe, including at Lisbon’s Teatro do Bairro Alto, Madrid’s Casa Encendida, Vienna’s Tanzquartier and London's Camden Arts Centre. Under the pseudonym Vincent Gambini he presents sleight-of-hand magic performances. He is Senior Lecturer in Theatre & Performance at University of Sussex.

• Dr. Eylül Fidan Akıncı is a performance researcher, artist, and the house dramaturg of Theater a/d Rijn, Arnhem. She received her Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Akıncı's doctoral research “A Girl Is a Thing: Dramaturgies of Objects and Nature in Contemporary Choreography” focuses on the oeuvres of five women choreographers to untangle the performative paradoxes of agency and objectification from an ecofeminist perspective. Her writing has appeared in TDR: The Drama Review, Performance Research, and Etcetera Mag, as well as in the edited collections Performance in a Militarized Culture (2017) and The Methuen Drama Companion to Performance Art (2020). Akıncı has taught at Hunter College in City University of New York (CUNY), Baruch College (CUNY), Fontys Dance Academy Tilburg, Goethe University Frankfurt, Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, and Amsterdam University of Arts. She pursues her own environmental performance practice through collaborations with Taldans company.