Unpacking virality and identity with Tina Ruiz
Ràdio Olot | February 10, 2020
Monday, 10 February 2020 , Olot
Unpacking virality and identity with Tina Ruiz
I was kindly invited to the University of Girona to do a presentation and workshop for 3rd year Performance Art students. I began with talking about my project called ‘Tales of Transformation’ which explores the possibilities of transforming personal traumas and other important experiences into fairytales. I gave the students a little bit of context for this project and why I am currently working on it at Faber Residency (mainly the search of new ways to talk about difficult topics, including queer gender identity and sexuality). Then we proceeded to the practical part where I asked students to do a few exercises that would allow them to present their personal stories in the suggested form: we imagined ourselves as different fairytale characters, we thought about the space where our stories might have happened, about ‘the others’ – antagonists of our stories, and, most importantly, our problems/desires in the context of the story. In the end of the session, we attempted an impromptu performance, where all the students became a ‘fairytale book’ read simultaneously by visiting spectators. I really enjoyed this session, and I feel that the stories contributed by those very talented young people enriched my project immensely.