Come lend your hand to the children in Ålesund! By listening to the child’s predictions, you get the opportunity to rethink your own life.

Francesca Grilli’s «SPARKS» is a performance that originates in a single act: Children read the future of adults in the palm of their hands. This represents a hopeful gesture, and a break with the past. Sparks puts us in a situation where the body is interpreted, which opens the way for the participant to get a new look at the world. The production gives children magical powers and the ability to predict the future, for a short while.

This soft and soft event is based on our hands, which are the part of the human body that is most exposed to the world, and the point of contact between different generations. In Sparks, the relationship between adult and child is turned upside down, and it is the latter that speaks to us about the future. Do we want to listen to them?

The performance is prompted by a several-day workshop for the children in the Jugendteatret, who, together with the artistic team, explore the art of palm reading and some of the oracle’s methods.

Please note that this is a performance for an adult audience, where the focus is on the meeting between the adult and the child.

About the artist
Francesca Grilli (born in Bologna; lives and works in Brussels) works interdisciplinary with a focus on performance and installation. She has participated in a multitude of performance festivals, solo and group exhibitions in international museums and institutions worldwide, including: MAXXI L’AQUILA, L’Aquila (2021); Saal Biennal, Tallinn (2019); Palais De Tokyo, Paris (2017); Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2017-2015); Centrale Fies, Fies – Trento (2017 – 2006); MAXXI, Rome (2016); Padiglione Italia, 55. Biennale Arte di Venezia (2013); Serpentine Gallery, London (2009); MAMBO, Bologna (2010), Manifesta7, Bolzano (2008)

ENGLISH

Francesca Grilli’s Sparks is a participatory project based on a simple act: children read adults their future in the palm of their hands, as a hopeful gesture and as a break with the past. Sparks puts us in the situation of interpretation of the body, providing the viewer with a unique view of the world and making children become future tellers and bearers of magical powers for a while.

Delicate and mysterious, this performance is based on three elements: the hands, which are the part of the body most exposed to the world, the point of contact between different generations; the reading of hands, used as a game to express imagination and desires; the hats, which represent the playful echo of the helmets which, once worn, protect children from the direct gaze of adults.

In Sparks the relationship between adults and children is thus overturned, as it is this latter who speaks to us about our future: will we listen to them?

The performance will be preceded by a multi-days preparation workshop for the children, led together with Azzurra D’Agostino, in which they will explore the knowledge of palm reading and some oracular practices.

Since this project is based around children reading adults’ hands, please note that this is a performance mainly meant for an adult audience.

credits
Creation: Francesca Grilli
Words: Azzurra D’Agostino
Sound: Roberto Rettura
Movements: Benno Steinegger
Hat designer and realization: Paola Villani
Advice: Chiara Guidi
Palm reading advice: Guido Rossetti
Producer: Chiara Massari
Communication: Elena Regazzoni / Studio Francesca Grilli
Administration: Chiara Fava/ Corpoceleste
Produced by: Corpoceleste_C.C.00#, (Italy), Santarcangelo Festival (Italy),
Snaporazverein (Switzerland)
Co-produced by: Welcome to the village (Netherlands), Saal Biennaal (Estonia)
In collaboration with: workspacebrussels (Belgium)