Landscape, Geography, and Refugee Birds. A Reading-Performance by Gian Gigi Spina

Gian Gigi Spina

Landscape, Geography and Refugee Birds

The performance-reading "The Landscape, Geography, and Refugee Birds" begins with the destruction of the Brazilian Cerrado and the memory of the Green Revolution to reflect on the relationship between landscape, war, and agriculture. The Cerrado, one of the planet's most biodiverse biomes, is also one of the most affected by the advance of agribusiness, monocultures, and the intensive exploitation of natural resources. The performance connects this process to the logics of control and surveillance inherited from military technologies, revealing how war reinvents itself in the territory through modern agriculture.

Inspired by Edward Said's reflections in Invention, Memory, and Place, the work examines how narratives, memories, and geographical inventions are mobilized to erase ecosystems, ways of life, and collective histories, establishing a selective memory that favors power. In this context, the birds that leave the Cerrado in ruins and seek refuge in cities appear as living metaphors of forced displacement, becoming witnesses to a socio-environmental collapse.

Between fragments of text, images, and voice, the performance maps out the migrations—of animals, memories, and people—that emerge from a territory undergoing transformation and disappearance. The work invites the audience to consider the landscape not only as a setting, but as a field of political and symbolic dispute, where the violence of war, the invention of memory, and the urgency of rethinking the geographies of the present intersect.

Free

Registration:
Registrations must be made here.
Selection will be made in order of registration.
Registration will be open until the start of the activity, on site, as long as there are spaces available.

Participate in the program of debates, workshops and associated activities!

TODAY (28.09):

10am to 2pm – activity Bixiga River Territory reforests Canudos in Horta Denuzia

10am to 6:30pm – 4th Jewelry Festival in the Jewel Park

11am to 12pm – workshop First Half

1:00 pm to 2:30 pm – workshop CLIMATIVA: Climate Action Plan for Brazilian cities

1pm to 9pm – SP Meeting Forum

IN THE NEXT DAYS (29.09 to 04.10)

September 29th to October 3rd – workshop Embodied landscapes

September 30th and October 2nd – Biomaterials Mini-Workshops at the Living Lab

30.09 – Guided tour of Pantanal Action

10/1 – conference Means of production with Jane Hall

10/1 and 2/2 – session 4 and session 5 of the show Cinema, architecture and society at the cinematheque

01.10 – workshop Between blades and gaps: project models in Glulam

01.10 – workshop Grammars of Nature – architectures of the infinitesimal at the Living Lab

02.10 – movie The Strength of Form – bent lenticular beam in wood at IABsp

02.10 – Amerindian Farms in Oca. Amazonia from the Margins to the Extremes: Labya-Yala of FAU-USP

02.10 – tables Preserving biodiversity in the city + Trees and Thermal Justice

03.10 – tables Housing policies for the homeless population and the experience of the FICA Fund + Innovating the Regularization of Affordable Housing + Cultural facilities in adapted historic buildings

03.10 – Workshop on Designing Wooden Structures with Fiber at IABsp

03.10 – Visit to Morro Grande Park

04.10 – Discussion round with Instituto Cambará and guided tour

04.10 – Film: When Brazil was modern

04.10 – Landscape, Geography, and Refugee Birds. A Reading-Performance by Gian Gigi Spina

JOIN! IT'S ALL FREE!

And there's much more until October 19th!

(Activities and projects are still being added; the site will be complete soon)

NOTE OF CONDOLENCE

With deep sorrow, the Brazilian Institute of Architects – São Paulo Department (IABsp) mourns the passing of architect and landscape architect Kongjian Yu, a global leader in ecological urbanism, and the members of his team who accompanied him, tragically killed during the filming of a documentary. The institute is honored to have had him as a participant in the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennial, where his transformative vision strengthened the dialogue between global challenges and local realities. IABsp emphasizes that Yu's contribution, which transcends borders, will remain an inspiration for generations and expresses its condolences to China, to the families of all the deceased, to his friends, and to all those impacted by his genius and dedication. Read the full note here.