Identity, memory and adolescence, the protagonists of the Cos Col·lectiu iN RESiDENCE ‘contamination’ sessions at the Institut Jaume Balmes secondary school

The first of these transfer meetings is carried out in a hybrid format from the school itself.

The iN RESiDENCE ‘contamination’ sessions have now started! The first ones have been held at the Institut Jaume Balmes secondary school with Cos Col·lectiu. They were held on 2 February at the school, in a hybrid meeting connecting the teaching staff of the 4th year’ students with representatives of the Institut de Cultura de Barcelona and the Education Consortium. The group was divided into two for the creation process presentation. On the one hand, at the physical session at the school, there were the members of Cos Col·lectiu, Meri Caballero; one of the teachers, Elisenda Vila (a member of this residence, together with Carme Clavero, who joined virtually); the mediator, Javier Rodrigo, from Transductores and the students Leah Maurus, Mar Peralta, Denisa Stan, Chlöe Suari and Lucía Zamora. On the other hand, Dagna Gil, a student who was self-isolating, participated in the session online from her home. They all showed the status of their creation process, which revolves around the idea of what it means to be a teenager nowadays, in comparison with other times, and the relationship with today’s reality.

The ‘contamination’ session commenced with a brief performance given by three of the students, with the concept of adolescence being the main theme. Words such as “unstable, insecure, fragile and dramatic” had been chosen by the students themselves to define the ‘teenage condition’. Next, various students presented a series of ‘teenage still lifes’, consisting of groups of objects related to the identity of each of the students in the group. The group then went on to show a map that they have been creating in the iN RESiDENCE sessions and which contains a world map with the location of close people (famous or otherwise) that the students consider to be role models. A world map of friends, family members, artists and role models.

The session concluded with a final activity and a conversation to reflect on the teenage condition, identity and memories. The students presented part of their “Teenage Family Album”, made up of photographs provided by their close relatives (mothers, fathers and other family members) from their teenage years and youth. The students then compared these photos from their relatives with their own adolescence (based on current photographs in similar situations). The comparison of the sets of images (their own with those of their relatives in their teenage years), lead them to ask themselves what their adolescence had in common with that of their family members.

All the details of these explorations, and the ‘contamination’ session itself are available on the Cos Col·lectiu iN RESiDENCE blog at the Institut Jaume Balmes.