Conference Program

This paper stems from the consideration of arts, specifically performing arts, as expressive possibilities to be enhanced in educational contexts, in the optic of building a more inclusive and democratic society. The process of aesthetic reception and creative production highlights the experiential and relational dimension, gathered from John Dewey's studies on the connections between art, experience, and nature.

The path proposed here offers food for thought and critical references on the centrality of the body and on corporeal listening in theatrical and educational relationships. In the pedagogical field listening is considered an indispensable condition in order to build educational dialogue, whereas in theatrical relationships listening appears as a direct consequence of the actor’s communication, which seems to arise on stage from silence.

Often focused on what reaches the audience from the stage, we forget that what the performer offers is the product of listening. The actor's body is one that presents itself to the spectator's gaze, a "speaking" and "acting" body, but we forget that it is, first and foremost, a body that “feels."

A contemporary theatrical production has highlighted how listening is an essential aspect of performance and how this ability is not the result of mere cochlear competence but rather of a widespread sensoriality. Deserving of particular consideration are the works of two deaf artists: Vincenzo Cannavacciulo aka Bobò and Christine Sun Kim. Bobò (1936-2019) was an Italian deaf-mute artist that worked with Pippo Delbono’s company since the play “Barboni” of 1997 until death. Christine Sun Kim (1980-) is an American deaf sound artist, performer, and activist based in Berlin.

The comparison of the performances of these two artists, very different in background and poetic language, aims to offer a glimpse on how the artistic practices of deaf people can overturn stereotypes about deafness and open new horizons for research in social pedagogy, in Deaf and Performance Studies, and ultimately inspire new approaches in social policies and offer new tools for educational governance.