Dans la Forêt

‘Once when we were walking through the forest at night, the experience proved so intense that we wanted to share it’. By going on long walks through the forest theirselves, the artist Massimo Furlan and his partner, the dramaturge and playwright Claire de Ribaupierre came up with the idea to make a piece about it. They realised they really knew very little about the forest. ‘I could only name two kinds of trees’, says Furlan. So they pored over the work of tree and animal experts, environmental activists, philosophers, writers and filmmakers like The Secret Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben and the documentary Becoming Animal by Emma Davie and Peter Mettler.

Walking ‘Walking brings us into a state in which the body, the mind and the world respond to each other like three characters conversing with one another’, the philosopher Rebecca Solnit writes in The Art of Walking. The landscape gives us ideas, and the rhythm of walking sets the rhythm for our thoughts. We think differently when moving outside than we do at a table in a closed room. Seeing This project will take place at night, not with artificial lighting but in the dark. It engages like our hearing, but also our sense of smell and touch. The decreased visibility in the dark increases the sense of vulnerability, giving room to the imagination. Images and associations from childhood, like a fear of the wilderness, a fear of wolves or a fear of disappearing may surface. But these fears are tempered when our eyes slowly adjust and the body realises its surroundings are not hostile. Listening Silence heightens the attention to our surroundings. It is a way to keep up with the world around us. But even in small groups, we disturb the silence with our footsteps and the brushing and rustling sounds of our clothes. For this reason, there will be extensive breaks in order to take a good listen to the branches creaking, the wind blowing and animals passing by. In silence, our sense of hearing is heightened. Besides listening to the forest itself, there will be an opportunity to listen to stories about the woods with a guide directing our attention. Safe The experience that Furlan and De Ribaupierre create with Dans la Forêt is highly controlled and safe because the route is known and the walk is done in a group with a guide. Yet they will also ensure there is enough room to marvel at and surrender to the experience, in which three elements - walking, seeing and listening - are central.