BE the TREE project - Georgia Petrali © 2018 - fysalidance.com
One of the mottos of "fysalida" is "movement inside and outside".
Focusing on movement and the need to make a statement about contemporary social and ecological issues, in the past 11 years I have chosen to create artistic works embracing a deeper philosophy of how everything can bring harmony.
Harmony between nature and human, between human and human.
After the dance-theater performance GAIA_be the bee at Cretaquarium in October 2016, as well as various activist street art at central locations in the city of Heraklioin 2018 follows the production BE the TREE project, a modular project about nature and the quality of life in modern society.,
BE the TREE project consists of:
- a series of artistic workshops and dance practices starting with research and exercising the concept of the tree as an idea, experience, need
- creation and presentation of artistic videos aimed at informing and raising public awareness about ecological issues
- tree mapping in the area of Agia Triada in the city of Heraklion, an act of care, respect and love for the environment
- street art performance with students in the city center of Heraklion town for the World Mother Earth Day, Sunday 22 April 2018
- dance performance with guest artists and colleagues from Greece and abroad
- solo performances
Reacting to the chronic and unfair cuts and abuses of trees on our island, and more specifically the lack of education and empathy about ecology and the environment, I often visualize the human body as a tree, wise and beautiful, with roots and fruit, soil and water, thoughts, memories and emotions that dance harmoniously together with the consent of all its leaves and branches in the space-time of our existence and coexistence in the universe.
With my friend and co-worker Zenia Drossou, we decided to dedicate about a month and a half to map the trees of the Agia Triada district in order to record information about the green areas of this region. Our desire is to become a source of inspiration for other people who would like to do something similar in other neighborhoods. As a result, we created a detailed record with photos and notes for all the trees in the district (in gardens and on the streets). In the same spirit of the artistic and human desire for expression and communication, the first video of the series Be the Tree project was realized in collaboration with Stella Meligounaki and Yorgos Mavromanolakis.
Our deepest desire and need remains to raise public awareness about nature and ecology, while our oxygen-deprived scream is transformed into the "common truth": We want TREES in our City!