Embodied Transformations: Exploring Scars and Stories in Transformative Learning

Scars can be an illustration of indelible crystallization of the problems, risks, and transformations we go through and of which we are not always aware. Using the artistic medium and theatrical performance methodologies, an attempt will be made to offer a lens through which to re-signify one’s scars in a positive key. Participants, starting (1) from the exploration of their own bodies, through (2) the ‘translation’ of the embodied experience, passing (3) through the creation of a common map of scars, to arrive at (4) the sharing and discussion of the whole activity, will have the opportunity to rewrite the story of their scars. These scars will thus be transformed from elements of rupture to elements of rebirth and restart. The scars are not denied or hidden, but highlighted, as in the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where broken ceramics are mended, highlighting the fractures with gold. The body is not only the place of wounds but becomes the badge of restarting and above all a privileged witness, repository of profound knowledge. An embodied knowledge that opens the door to reparative transformation.