August 2024
CYCLOTOPIA: Nora Tormann’s Residency in Bratislava
Nora Tormann participated in the CYCLE UP! residency programme in Bratislava, immersing themselves in the city’s cycling culture and exploring the concept of utopia. As core artistic practices, Tormann worked with participatory research methods and artistic archiving, looking at how Bratislava’s cycling culture can be both lived and imagined.
Their approach was heavily influenced by their background in choreography and political philosophy, placing the human body and public space at the centre of the research. Through this lens, the politics and sensations of cycling were explored, including questions of accessibility, safety, community, and the impact of cycling on the body and mind.
Community Activities and Engagement
To connect with Bratislava’s cycling community, Tormann organised one-on-one bike rides, inviting participants to share their experiences, observations, and visions for a more bike-friendly city. Moreover, participants captured their perspectives on the city through analog fotography. During a workshop, participants explored the sensory dimensions of cycling through a narrated, imaginary ride and created poetic collages that reflect the somatic and emotional aspects of cylcing alone or in a group. In a third step, Tormann set up an interactive installation during Dobry Trh, Bratislava’s popular community market, inviting participants to contribute their visions for Bratislava as a cycling city. This participatory manifesto captured ideas in English and Slovak, embodying the diverse voices of Bratislava’s citizens.
Artistic Outcomes: A Book as Archive and Performance
Tormann's residency experience underscored the power of participatory art and their work in Bratislava reveals how artistic practice can foster community dialogue, reimagine public space, and make utopia visible in everyday urban life. To read Nora's book in more detail, you can download it here: Thanks to everyone who contributed to the book and everyone who supported the making of the book by sharing their knowledge and resources – especially Illah Van Oijen, Karol Prudil, Kristína Uhráková, Lucia Timárová, Marina Martynova, and Pavol Štefanovič.
In collaboration with: Czech Centers, Goethe Institute, Phoinix Gallery, and OZ Punkt.
About: Nora Tormann (@noratormann) is a Berlin-based choreographer, curator, and dance dramaturg. With a background in political philosophy and contemporary dance, their practice navigates the intersections of artistic and theoretical research. Nora is interested in creating choreographic work in public and non-theatrical spaces, generating conversations between bodies, landscapes, histories, and the unrehearsed rawness of the present moment. In their artistic and organisational practice, Nora prioritises care and works towards sustainable structures and methods in the performing arts.
Choreographic works include the site-specific audio walk “TURN – cartography of a movement” (2022) and “physical prospects” (2021+22), performed as a trio and solo. They have co-curated festivals, conferences, and collective research laboratories, including the annual conference of the International Theatre Institute „Conflict & Care“ (2023), the research lab “performing for peers – audiences of (post)pandemic emerging professionals” (2023) commissioned by Fonds Darstellende Künste, and various formats within the frame of Celestial Bodies - a travelling platform for artistic exchange and research throughout artistic practices.
Their approach was heavily influenced by their background in choreography and political philosophy, placing the human body and public space at the centre of the research. Through this lens, the politics and sensations of cycling were explored, including questions of accessibility, safety, community, and the impact of cycling on the body and mind.
Community Activities and Engagement
To connect with Bratislava’s cycling community, Tormann organised one-on-one bike rides, inviting participants to share their experiences, observations, and visions for a more bike-friendly city. Moreover, participants captured their perspectives on the city through analog fotography. During a workshop, participants explored the sensory dimensions of cycling through a narrated, imaginary ride and created poetic collages that reflect the somatic and emotional aspects of cylcing alone or in a group. In a third step, Tormann set up an interactive installation during Dobry Trh, Bratislava’s popular community market, inviting participants to contribute their visions for Bratislava as a cycling city. This participatory manifesto captured ideas in English and Slovak, embodying the diverse voices of Bratislava’s citizens.
Artistic Outcomes: A Book as Archive and Performance
Tormann's residency experience underscored the power of participatory art and their work in Bratislava reveals how artistic practice can foster community dialogue, reimagine public space, and make utopia visible in everyday urban life. To read Nora's book in more detail, you can download it here: Thanks to everyone who contributed to the book and everyone who supported the making of the book by sharing their knowledge and resources – especially Illah Van Oijen, Karol Prudil, Kristína Uhráková, Lucia Timárová, Marina Martynova, and Pavol Štefanovič.
In collaboration with: Czech Centers, Goethe Institute, Phoinix Gallery, and OZ Punkt.
About: Nora Tormann (@noratormann) is a Berlin-based choreographer, curator, and dance dramaturg. With a background in political philosophy and contemporary dance, their practice navigates the intersections of artistic and theoretical research. Nora is interested in creating choreographic work in public and non-theatrical spaces, generating conversations between bodies, landscapes, histories, and the unrehearsed rawness of the present moment. In their artistic and organisational practice, Nora prioritises care and works towards sustainable structures and methods in the performing arts.
Choreographic works include the site-specific audio walk “TURN – cartography of a movement” (2022) and “physical prospects” (2021+22), performed as a trio and solo. They have co-curated festivals, conferences, and collective research laboratories, including the annual conference of the International Theatre Institute „Conflict & Care“ (2023), the research lab “performing for peers – audiences of (post)pandemic emerging professionals” (2023) commissioned by Fonds Darstellende Künste, and various formats within the frame of Celestial Bodies - a travelling platform for artistic exchange and research throughout artistic practices.