What we Question: In the context of monoculture times correlated with monomythologies, myths that are not adapted to ecological realities are lost. The transmission of these over time represents the relationship established between members of a community. Surrounded by concrete and alienated from the senses, the need for reconnection has become imperative. Nature is not just a backdrop for narratives; it is a living force, in continuous dialogue with reality, shaping myths. In an era of intense urbanization, how can we reconnect myth with the vital force of nature and ensure its relevance in the contemporary landscape?

Drawing from the Greek myth of Cassandra, who sees and feels everything but whose prophecies are never heeded despite being true, Alina Tofan & Teodora Rotaru propose bringing her spirit into the present through recontextualization and embodiment. Cassandra can foresee the ecological disasters that befall the world because she is connected to nature and communicates with it, which leads her to be considered mad and different.

In a society of overconsumption, the magical bond between humans and nature is seen as madness. Those who intuitively listen to and respond to nature tend not to be followed but blamed and excluded, bearing the symbol of despair in the face of human indifference. The proposed ecoperformative path invites reflections on returning to the past to offer new perspectives for the future of villages and the nature around them.

The process of embodying the performative persona of Cassandra is part of a personal working process that the artist experimented with in various forms this summer, particularly during the residency offered by Casa Hundorf.

Concept by Alina Tofan & Teodora Rotaru
Video Artist: Teodora Rotaru
Ecoperformer: Alina Tofan
Sound Design by Ștefan Blănică/ edited by Teodora Rotaru
August, 2024, Hundorf, Tg. Mureș – Romania