Staging Ground is a research residency that aims to examine today’s major urban challenges through a multidisciplinary approach. Each year, the program invites LINA fellows and other participants to conduct on-site research and develop creative projects related to major urban transformations occurring in the Greater Paris metropolitan area. The first cycle of residency Acts of Crossing (2023) focused on the question of urban mobility in the context of the Boulevard Périphérique, the ring road encircling Paris.
The Boulevard Périphérique is a crucial infrastructure linking various territories that suffer from the lack of public transport. At the same time, this infrastructure is perceived as a symbolic barrier between Paris and the so-called banlieus. In this sense, several competing visions about the future of the Boulevard Périphérique are emerging today. Some imagine a renewal of this infrastructure with the introduction of pedestrian and cycle paths, while others call for its total demolition.
The three residents participating in this residency cycle were invited to reflect on what it means to cross the Boulevard Périphérique through methods from choreography and performance. Their projects, which took the form of a participatory workshop, a video essay and a performance, highlighting how performative thinking can help imagine transitions in cultures of urban movement.
Contributors:
- Rafael Alvarez (Choreographer)
- John Bingham-Hall (Independent Researcher, Theatrum Mundi)
- Fani Kostourou (Architect and Urban Planner, Central Saint Martins)
- Magda Maaoui (Researcher, Atelier Parisien d’Urbanisme)
- Lamine M. (Artist and Manager of Villa Dionysos)
- Alexandra Lacroix (Theatre Director)
- Ghassan Salameh (Exhibition Curator and Independent Consultant)
- Julien Sneck (Ecology Project Manager, Plaine Commune)
