Reinventing ourselves
Komorebi 2021 takes place in two ways, an artistic residency in the olive grove and an online art archive
Komorebi 2021 is the fifth edition of the event: due to anti-Covid regulations, it has been rethought in order to grant the safety of the artists and the spectators. In this sense, the location is perfect: the Novemilachilometri olive grove is not only a suggestive place full of meanings and memories of the Komorebi 2019, but also a beautiful open space, useful to guarantee the safety distance. What may seem to be a "limit" caused by the difficult times turns into a chance to re-invent things: Komorebi 2021 will take place in two ways, an artistic residency in the olive grove and an online art archive that collects all the works and performances, based on the painful yet fascinating theme "Specular Paths". In addition to the disciplines that have always characterised Komorebi, the fifth edition adds some new features, such as culinary art.
Specular Paths
Recognizing ourselves and recognizing ourselves through the other
The theme 'Specular Paths' comes from the awareness that there are some things that cannot be achieved alone: recognising ourselves after a moment of great pain or confusion is one of these things. The "path" is the one each of us takes to find ourselves; the "mirror" is the one in which we look at ourselves to find the answers we are looking for. As the philosopher Paul Ricoeur reminds us, after identifying and recognising ourselves, the final and fundamental stage is mutual recognition. We therefore need another path, mirroring our own, to get out of the spiral of pain: we need a person who can empathise with us and give us the gift of their recognition, allowing us to be grateful to them for having given us inner peace. So there is not just one path. There are at least two paths, and they are specular, because the person who will help us to come out of the darkness will be in front of us, will act as a mirror, in a complementary or opposite way, but still able to help us to recognise ourselves, to reflect and reflect ourselves in the mirror. With Ricoeur, Komorebi becomes a hymn to life that cannot be sung alone: death and pain are defeated at least in two.
The online art archive contains the biographies and works and performances of the artists, both those staged during the artistic residency and those created specifically for the online archive. All the works are inspired by the theme "Specular Paths".