Transformative Poetry for Regenerative Futures: An Integral Poetry Performance by Trans4m in Rio de Janeiro’s Museum of Tomorrow, in Partnership with Sinal do Vale
20 May 2019: For the first time ever, Trans4m translated its integral approach to personal and societal regeneration into a performance that includes mythological narrative and transformative poetry, evoking the holistic development potential of the audience.
This performance by Alexander Schieffer was part of a regeneration event that Trans4m’s integral partner organisation SINAL (Sinal do Vale) organised in cooperation with the world famous Museum of Tomorrow, Rio de Janeiro’s stunning architectural landmark and outstanding museum for sustainable futures. The event was nested within the Oca, a contemplative place within the museum, inspired by ancient indigenous design. The Oca provided the perfect container for this regeneration event, as new perspectives on sustainability and regeneration could be experimented with in meaning- and beautiful ambience.
In participatory fashion, the event was opened by inspiring introductions to Sinal by its founder Thais Corral and to the Museum of Tomorrow by its curator Luiz Alberto Oliveira. In the course of the event the audience was invited to enjoy a participatory “music, rhythm and body enactment” to stimulate creativity, led by Chilean Josep Ramió; a Theatre of Transformation performance by Rama Mani; an excursion into food, health and permaculture; and an Integral Poetics of Regeneration performance by Trans4m’s Alexander Schieffer.
Schieffer interwove a mythological narrative evoking the hedging of a Firebird (the mythological phoenix) from a giant egg, represented by an indigenous sculpture in the center of the Oca, with a journey through four transformative stages. At each of the four integral stages, participants were exposed to a transformative question and inspirational poetry, authored by Alexander Schieffer. The journey culminated in the rise of the Firebird, including the full participation of the audience, symbolizing a collective commitment to a sustainable future and to shared action.
This mytho-poetic format was a “premiere” for Trans4m, and resulted in a successful experiment of translating the integral work into the field of art and mythology. A new dimension and field for individual and cultural renewal was opened – marking an expansion of the application of Trans4m’s integral work into society.
There is surely more of this integral mytho-poetry to be shared in the future.
