the table of alliance, art, science, genome
Performances & Moments
Artworks
Concepts
Food
The Table of Alliance performance is a banquet held around a table covered by a tablecloth embroidered with a map of the human genome. The map of the genome shows us the common elements that belong to all humankind. To give food” is an attitude inherent in the adult dimension of the human experience and is identified with the concept of justice: “If a man is righteous, he shares his bread with the hungry.”(Ezekiel 18, 7.16, ). The act of eating becomes a revealing moment of the truth of a human being as a being of communion. To banquet, to eat and drink,means to celebrate life. By preparing food for another being,we affirm our desire that he or she might live. Combining the text of the genome with the symbolic plane of nourishment bears witness to the need to place art and science in a profound dialogue, seeking common ground between the two planes of ability which each possesses, and to poetically transfigure revelations that belong to all human history and to the act of shared living. The act of sharing and the uniqueness of each individual in the world are today important elements and represent an invisible presence that provides support to individuals as they make decision in everyday life. The banquet will thus become a celebration of life, of dialogue and of peace.
Blood
Blood has always played a profound symbolic role in all civilizations, a sign of continuity, rupture or alliance. Blood contains platelets that interrupt hemorrhages with the process of coagulation. Each cell has the capacity to integrate itself with all other cells and to participate in a synchronized way in the existence of each individual. The gesture of giving is the most relevant gesture in the bond between one human and his/her own kind, donate blood is evidence of mutual sharing Blood is our life force. All the body’s organs need its constant supply of oxygen and nutritious substances Blood flows through the circulatory system thanks to the heart, which measures our life with every beat. The heart must not meet resistance. There is an almost imperceptible line, beyond which it feels submerged. Its beat is a call. Blood is its messenger, a silent ,inexpressible invocation.
Project
The Table of Alliance is a performance conceived by the Italian artist Daniela Papadia. The project combines art, science, food, multiculturalism and spirituality. Daniela is an artist who has now been active for many years, has always shown a particular sensibility to social issues. She seeks to spread the awareness of social issues through of contemporary art.
Project aim
The ‘Table of Alliance’ aims to spark an open dialogue and create a meeting place for people of different cultures through the means of art performance. By merging art and science, this project builds on principles of equality and fraternity among all peoples, irrespective of their race, nation, sex, origin, culture or class.
Concepts
The genome is humanity’s bond of communion and genetic heritage. The genome is composed of billions of small units - known as nitrogenous bases – which represent the architecture of an individual. These small units are linked to each other in an extremely long molecule of DNA, the genome, which differs from species to species but is surprisingly similar within one species. Every human being, regardless of his/her ethnic, religious or cultural belonging, shares a unique and common genetic heritage. Every person is thus unique while, at the same time, surprisingly similar, and the difference is in the sequence of that person's DNA. The study of the human genome thus leads to a linguistic paradox: “Uniqueness and Community”.
The genome reminds us that we are all part of a unique human project. We are unique, in exactly the same way that all others are unique, and respect for all other human beings is the foundation of the dignity of the human community.
Embroidery
Embroidery is an ancient art. The use of threads and weaving as a metaphor can be found in the traditions of almost all peoples on our planet, where a thread is a metaphor for life itself and for
the joint destiny to which we are each invisibly tied. The famous spinners in Greek mythology, the Fates, established the destiny of each man by spinning his individual thread. Women from different ethnic have produced an long tapestry depicting an artistic rendering of the structure of the genome.The union of many threads of different colors into artwork resembling the human genome, by women of these many different origins, provides a strong symbolism of the process of social reconciliation and the mending of ones own life.
Scientific Team
