Diversorium
Participants: Maria Oliver & Veronica Valentini
A space in which to come together and "move" beyond the discrimination that separates us.

Activation in the framework of A Movement to Hold: 24 March 2023, 6pm at MDT (Moderna Dansteatern, Stockholm)

(EN)
Diversorium is a project that comes out of the expressed desire of two functional diversity activists for a communal space. In a public conversation, Veronica Valentini and Maria Oliver detail Diversorium’s desire for a space in which to come together and celebrate, to "dance with" the various affective, invisibilized communities in the city and "move" beyond the discrimination that separates and plagues our communities. For them, this space is as necessary as it is desired as, despite some advances made by social justice movements, social equality is still nowhere near close enough.

Taking cue from previous projects such as Yes, we Fuck!, a project produced with Maria Oliver and Antonio Centeno together with OVI-Oficina de Vida Independiente's members and other participants, Diversorium aims to explore the cultural and social meaning of difference by developing new forms of cooperation, interaction, and connection between people.

Diversorium has been presented between 2020 and 2022 in different formats at Sala Apolo, Festival Primavera PRO, Festival BAM, Rambla del Raval and Festes Mercé, 2022. It has collaborated with artist Osias Yanov among others. Additionally, Diversorium has been selected as a participating project in the Festival Escena Poblenou/Centre Civic Can Felipa, and in the Culturopolis, International Days on Cultural Rights, Parallel 62 and El Molino, 2022 organised by Barcelona City Council.

Maria Oliver holds a PhD in French philology and has worked as university lecturer, translator and sporadic poet. She has been an activist since 12 years ago, when her uncertainty led her to live with functional diversity and to see the other side of the mirror. Oliver is member of the OVI-Office of Independent Living in Barcelona. Furthermore, she has participated in various cultural projects linked to functional diversity such as "Trèvols de 4 fulles", "Vivir i altres ficcions", "Yes, we fuck", "Nexos", and sexual assistance - "Tus manos, mis manos".

Veronica Valentini is a curator working in the fields of visual arts, education and social context. She is Head of International Residencies and Networks at Hangar (Barcelona), founder director at BAR project, E.M.M.A., and mediator for Concomitentes, a Citizen Art program supported by Carasso Foundation. In this position, she has developed, together with functional diversity activists, a civic art commission entitled "Diversorium. Live arts and a space for coexistence".


More information about the project here.


(SV)
Nu bjuder A Movement to Hold in Veronica Valentini och Maria Oliver för att tala om Diversorium, ett projekt som uppkom ur två funktionsvariationsaktivisters uttryckta önskan om ett gemensamt rum. Ett rum för att samlas och fira, för att ”dansa med” de olika affektiva, osynliggjorda grupper i staden och ”röra” de diskrimineringar som separerar oss. Dessutom svarar nämnda önskan mot en nödvändighet, för trots framsteg är vi fortfarande inte i närheten av social jämlikhet.

Diversorium utforskar den kulturella och sociala innebörden av skillnad genom att utveckla nya former för samexistens, interaktion och samhörighet mellan människor, och det sker med insikter från avgörande audiovisuella projekt kring funktionsvariationer såsom Yes, we Fuck! Som redan producerats av de två parterna, Maria Oliver och Antonio Centeno tillsammans med medlemmarna och deltagarna i OVI-Oficina de Vida Independiente.

Mellan 2020 och 2022 har Diversorium gjorts i olika format på Sala Apolo, Festival Primavera PRO, Festival BAM, Rambla del Raval och i Festes Mercé. Samarbeten har genomförts med konstnärer som Osias Yanov med flera. Dessutom har Diversorium valts ut som deltagande projekt på Festival Escena Poblenou/Centre Civic Can Felipa, och på Culturopolis, International Days on Cultural Rights, Parallel 62 och El Molino under 2022 som arrangerades av Barcelonas stadsfullmäktige.