Chiara Bersani is an artist who has focused her work on the Political Body; Laura Pugno is a writer and poet with a sharp and cutting imagination. During the challenging period of the first lockdown, Chiara read In territorio selvaggio, a book by Laura in which the literature is a pretext for a wider-ranging reflection on the need to experience the beyond, the forest, the place of possible perdition. Chiara immediately recognised a powerful metaphor for the body, and the two began to exchange thoughts at a distance. In this event, the artists find themselves face to face for the first time. Reading to each other from the pages of works that have made the most impression on them, they will be involving the audience in a discussion on the power that the untamed gaze has in focusing on the bodies of others, as well as the resulting responsibility.

Chiara Bersani is an Italian performer and writer in the field of the Performing Arts, experimental theatre and contemporary dance. As both a performer and director/choreographer, she moves through differing languages and visions. Her works, presented in international circuits, begin as creations that dialogue with spaces of various nature, and are mainly aimed at an audience that is in some way connected to the theatre. He works as a performer and writer is based on the concept of the Body Politic and the creation of practices aimed at training presence and action. The work that embodies this research is Gentle Unicorn, a performance that forms part of the Aerowaves circuit. For her portrayal of this research, she was presented with the UBU award in 2019 as the best actor/performer under the age of 35. In August 2019, during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Gentle Unicorn and Chiara Bersani won the first prize in the dance category at the Total Theatre Awards.

Laura Pugno, poet, essayist and author. Her latest works include the novels Sirene and La ragazza selvaggia,  Campiello Award, Literature (Marsilio 2016-2018); the essay In territorio selvaggio (Nottetempo 2018); l’Oracolo manuale per poete e poeti, with Giulio Mozzi (Sonzogno 2020) and the collection of poetry Noi (Amos/A27 2020). She collaborates with L’Espresso magazine and Le parole e le cose. She created the poetry festival I quattro elementi (Madrid 2018-2019), the podcasts Oltrelontano. Poesia come paesaggio for Radio3 Suite and Mappa immaginaria della poesia italiana contemporanea (Il Saggiatore, December 2021).

The evening, which forms part of the cycle of events Ogni volta unica la fine del mondo, aligns with the philosophy behind sostenere lo sguardo, proposing a collective exercise in perception. As spectators and artists, we ask ourselves how we can aid our planet by looking at it through different eyes; how to focus attention on events, objects and living creatures in order to assess our relationship with the world from foreign and wild points of view.