“Vain trifles as they seem, clothes have, some philosophers say, more important offices than merely to keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view of us. (…) Thus, there is much to support the view that it is clothes that wear us and not we them; we may make them take the mould of arm or breast, but they mould our hearts, our brains, our tongues to their liking”.
Virginia Woolf (Orlando, 1928)

Whose clothes would you like to wear? Who would you like to try yours on?

YOU AS ME / In someone else’s shoes is an art project open to individuals, couples and groups.
The project stems from the observation of the ways in which heteronormativity shapes behaviour, actions and gender hierarchies, moulds language and spaces, defines what is appropriate and decent, and conforms rigid models of femininity and masculinity. A minimal action, a collective exercise in the erosion of the more or less transparent conventions that confine people within rigid parameters and conveniences of gender, roles and status.
The project proposes an investigation on clothing as a fundamental threshold, as a social skin.
YOU AS ME intends to intercept and discuss the conflicts that define us and lead us back to the material coordinates of our existence and its symmetrical discriminations (social class, age, gender identity, sexual preferences, dis/abilities, religion, etc.) with the purpose of creating a judgement free space, bringing light, from an intersectional point of view, on all focal points of discrimination, and trying to consider them in depth.

Have a look to the portraits we have realized and submit your proposition!

YOU AS ME / In someone else’s shoes is also a workshop aimed at adults and teenagers who wish to make an experience of exploration and self-expression through the performance and the photographic portrait. The workshops can be hosted by universities, museums, cultural centers, festivals and social-health services. The object of the experience is a temporary exchange of clothes and their stories.
Participants are invited to bring the clothes of a person whose clothes they want to wear and personal garments to be made available to the other members of the group. After some exercises encouraging a dimension of relaxation, participants are invited to tell the story of the clothes they have chosen.
The experience induces those present, of different age, gender and origin, to practice an exercise of proximity and sharing. The desire that moves YOU AS ME / In someone else’s shoes is the valorization of all bodies and their public representation.
The workshop ends with a public performance and a video/photographic shooting dedicated to the participants in their new clothes, inviting them to focus on the sensations and the attitude the new garments lead them to.

Learn more about the previous experiences of workshops and performances.