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Today, care of the self has become very necessary, as individuals and as a community. We need to re-learn how to take care of our personal environment – our bodies, our identity, and our education –, and how to preserve and get along within the complex ecosystem around us.

My perspective on the urban and its development comes from my experience as an art activist, community facilitator, and resident of various cities.

In the last 10 years my main focus has been the disparities and injustices which constrain our daily lives in areas such as housing, co-housing, and public and shared space. Recently my attention has shifted toward the intimate: the effects of capitalism on our bodies, minds and spirits.

In recent times, big corporations, online platforms, virtual events and phenomena have expanded their domain of influence not only on our spaces and the way we live, but also on our intimate sphere(s). This development has been reinforced by major events such as the pandemic we are currently experiencing.

It is alas obvious that we are regimented from morning to night. On top of our normal respect for laws and civic rules, we have to fill in paper and online forms, to log in, to download applications. The current crisis has piled on an extra load of restrictive duties, which impacts many aspects of our personal and intimate lives, such as the way we gather and socialise with friends and family, share knowledge, care for our bodies, breathe, make physical contact, experience pleasure, affection, sacred moments, etc.

We are all moving toward a change of epic proportions without knowing what the end result will be. There is not just one enemy to combat, not just one right to fight for. We are all affected on an intimate level, we constantly live in state of emergency, we are unable to plan, we fear the worst coming around any corner.

I regard this special time as rich in its capacity to teach us. It is crucial to look at how the human species reacts to the new planetary configuration made of the very schematic structures and predefined patterns which concern the living. It is also of vital importance to discern the emergence of reformulated safe spaces in which there is the possibility of re-appropriating the intimate, which in my view is a fundamental step toward the reconstruction of a possible future.

I would therefore like to publish seven statements in the form of audio contributions about how the persistence of different practices concerning our more intimate life and bodies is manifested.

These current times are no doubt difficult and full of obstacles and challenges. These difficulties can nonetheless inspire new forms of resistance and transformation – that start with the re-appropriation of our own intimate sphere. In fact, the re-appropriation of the body and the re-definition of the self are now becoming an urgent issue for communities, couples and individuals.