Notes from Atopia

Unfolding over three days at Appleton Box, Alvalade, Notes from Atopia invited participants into solo and small group encounters that aim to dissect, explore and dialogue with the particularities of the pre-, during and post-COVID19 world. Inspired by the term ‘Atopia’ – to mean placelessness, or a society without borders and no national identity – Notes from Atopia queried the altered landscape of awareness that emerged in the aftermath of COVID-19 when many populations across the world were united in a suspended digital terrain of self-isolation.

Notes from Atopia was commissioned by the 4Cs Project: From Conflict to Conviviality through Creative and Culture,
a European Cooperation Programme funded project curated by Dr. Luisa Santos.

See more about the project through this link.

Workshop

Participants were asked to bring in a personal object, image, text, or memory that holds significance in relation to their experience of the COVID19 phenomena. Using a set of procedures grounded in phenomenological theory and adapted through interdisciplinary practices, Nithya Iyer will guide participants through a series of experiential and responsive interactions that aim to engage alternative modes of sense-making. The resulting insights are now digitally archived and act as a cultural resource that articulates insights from this particular period in time.

Notes from Atopia was also a digital experience open to submissions from participants anywhere in the world. Participants were registered invited to send images and/or text regarding their object or memory after their digital workshop.

Notes from Atopia specifically aims to engage artists, academics, community leaders, and cultural actors from both the local and international community living in Lisbon to participate in this project.

Digital Archive

The following images, texts, videos and installations, are the result of the in-person and online participation in the workshop, as displayed in the online archive here. Emerging from a series of guided processes grounded in phenomenological principles, they represent insights and reflections created by participants in relation to their felt senses about the pandemic condition. Some texts are also written in response to questions regarding the idea of utopia and its potential to play a role in the coming world.

Publication

A publication setting out the research concept, methodology and findings from Notes from Atopia can be accessed at this link.