Saris can be Flags

Reusing objects and exploring their multiple possibilities enriches them with layers of stories and experiences. An object that is used for something other than the purpose for which it was designed is a happy object. For us, the varied use of objects is also part of creating a community. People unite around the new meanings and uses given to things: old drawers become trays for serving samosas; paper for drying hands becomes an empty bureaucratic form; carpets become altars. At the beginning of the first performance the audience arrived at the main square of São Teotónio to find, hanging from wooden poles, saris of all colours fluttering in the wind - the flags of this new Alentejo. In the same performance, other saris served as tablecloths, displaying oriental spices while Sathiya and Mandeep told us about Indian grandmothers’ recipes. Later, in the Summer BOWING of 2022, the same saris were used as the roof of the shelter we built on the beach. In the BOWING BACK performance they were the cover for tents where momos and chai were served. The tactic is this: reuse the objects beyond their purpose and, in that way, receive what the materials reveal within themselves. Things are offered another life. It is an act of generosity that objects offer those who use them, serving as many purposes as the imagination allows. By keeping the gaze open, peripheral vision and attention awake to multiple possibilities, we begin to notice the materials, to listen to things, to love the objects that are found and which, themselves, offer clues and creative solutions as to how they should be used.