Touching

With this research, we investigate the foreign that lives within us all. To do so, the group ventures to the margins of what constitutes “normal” – questioning and reconstructing it from there.

In this pandemic moment, definitions of disorder, illness, or mental health have become fluid. The crisis renegotiates the boundaries of behavior and morality, thrusting us into states of overwhelm, social isolation, or despair, and confronting us with parts of ourselves we’ve never met. Each person carries hidden facets that neither they nor their surroundings fully recognize. How does our treatment of the stranger within relate to societal norms and exclusions? What happens when we ignore, exile, or fight these inner foreigners? And what might shift if we approached them with tolerance, respect, and curiosity—allowing them to become part of our individual and collective identity?

Starting Point

Our inquiry begins at the individual’s most fragile edge—when they are labeled “abnormal” or “mad.” Countless artists have spent their lives in psychiatric institutions; we draw inspiration from their lived and creative experiences.

At the heart of this research is Arthur Bispo do Rosário. Declared “crazy” for refusing to stay silent and for giving voice to his repressed self, Bispo do Rosário exposed social injustices through his art—becoming a disruptive force in a racist society. His psychiatric confinement opened pathways to visions beyond conventional reality and revealed how social context shapes our definitions of normality, especially for a Black man in mid‑20th‑century Brazil.

Practical Approach

Materials & Methods: Inspired by Bispo do Rosário’s patchworks and collages, we repurpose old garments and found textiles as both set elements and tools for embodied interaction.

Deconstruction & Reassembly: We cut, dismantle, and recombine these materials—literally and metaphorically—inviting dialogue between movement, costume, and environment.

Embodied Exchange: Performers navigate these assembled landscapes, activating each fragment through gesture, voice, and presence.

Grupo Oito’s “Touching the Foreigner in Us” traces the edges of normality—through theory, material practice, and embodied exchange—to render the stranger within visible, legible, and integral to our shared humanity. This research inspired our premiere performance Labyrinth, but its insights continue to inform every step of Grupo Oito’s evolving practice.