On June 2-5, I presented INTERNATIONAL AGENCY FOR UKRAINE, an immersive, site-specific, improvisatory and long-durational performance and sensory installation created as part of The________Dream, in Sintra, Portugal. It was collaboratively realized by Ukrainian artists Polina Bulat, Katya Markush, Anita Nemet, Marichka Shtyrbulova, and Khrystyna Slobodianiuk from an original concept by director Paul Bargetto and in conjunction with Ukrainian writers Piotr Armionowski and Julia Gonchar. The project was joined by Wroclaw-based collective The Food Think Tank who created edible and drinkable food design based on the culinary tradition of Ukraine.

The performance took place over the course of four full days across the grounds and gardens of Quinta da Bella Vista, the storied former residence of world-renowned author and spiritualist Arthur Conan Doyle, which sits atop the wooded hills of Sintra along the Portuguese coast just north of Lisbon. The fourth day took place along the nearby coastline at the European continent’s most Western tip. The idyllic, history-laden yet mystical, fairytale-like setting was both site and inspiration for engaging the 300 guests of the House of Beautiful Business. 

Performers wore an evolving wardrobe of coordinated yet individualized costumes inspired by traditional designs, and could present as themselves and/or specific characters taken from Ukrainian history or folklore. Performances offered opportunities for conversation as well as wordless individual encounters from poolside or on the manicured lawns and garden patios, spontaneous interventions in and collaborations with the conference’s program, and orphic, haunting voices raised in traditional song, among other manifestations of a co-inhabited waking dream.