Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the transits between anthropology and artistic practices as part of the project ‘#ECOS. Exiles, to counter silence: memories, objects and narratives of uncertain times’. How did this experience result in alternative, horizontal and critical spaces for collaboration and dialogue?

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses the transits between anthropology and artistic practices as part of the European project ‘#ECOS. Exiles, to counter silence: memories, objects and narratives of uncertain times’ (2018 – 2022). The project was carried out by a transnational (Portugal, France, Denmark) and multidisciplinary team (academics, artists, exiles, students, teachers) who worked in a permanent network, allowing the themes and content produced (often translated into more than one language) to be appropriated by different groups of citizens in Europe.

The project explored the narratives of Portuguese exile in Europe to discuss the production of unequal citizenships, highlighting the different mechanisms of solidarity and integration in European societies. The aim was to contribute to the construction of a European and transnational history, using storytelling and material culture as fundamental tools for transmitting memory and establishing biographical narratives.

The aim of this paper is to discuss more specifically the collaboration between the anthropologists and the Casa da Esquina theatre company, which resulted in three staged readings of the play ‘Exílio(s) 61-74. O meu país é o que o mar não quer’ [Exile(s) 61-74 My country is what the sea doesn't want] and two theatre writing workshops (Contemporary Political Dramaturgies “Memory and Resistance” and “Revolutions”). How did anthropology and the politics of theatre writing come together? How did this experience, from the point of view of anthropology, resulted in alternative, horizontal and critical spaces for collaboration and dialogue? How did we think, act and draw attention to our shared humanity?