Joana Rafael is an architect and researcher working on ecological issues related to pollution and contamination in buildings and territories, with a particular interest in the material conditions of construction and environmental contamination. Her research investigates the materiality and limits of physical infrastructures in relation to Earth systems, as well as human–nature relations mediated by dynamics of human impact, with particular attention to radiological contamination. In parallel, she develops a practice of collaboration with artists, research and writing, as well as consultancy on projects in the fields of architecture, art, and ecology. Joana has taught courses related to Contemporary Culture at institutions including ESAP, ISCE Douro, Central Saint Martins, and the University for the Creative Arts. She is a member of CEGOT and CEAA, and co-founder of REFINERY BOARD. Joana holds a Master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Culture from Metropolis, as well as a Master’s in Research Architecture and a PhD in Visual Culture from Goldsmiths, University of London. She also obtained a specialization certificate in Healthier Materials and Sustainable Construction from Parsons School of Design. She is currently completing a Master’s in Visual Arts Education. Alongside her academic work, Joana is a farmer.
Site-specific Writing
Masterclass and Workshop held in MAAT – Educational Centre as part of Nuno Cera´s exhibition Distant Lights Public Events
Date: 11/02/2023
Call for participants:
Cities and parts of cities are developed, shaped, and transformed with the help of culture and collective consciousness and, above all, understood or remembered by images that can convey a unique identity, certain style, practice, or meaning. What happens when the thought and praxis of narrating situatedness and specificity of a place enter photographic, literary and writing forms? How can writing engage materially with the analysis of sites, and be able to reconfigure the relationships between spatial theories, poetics, and practices? And carry or give meaning to a collective legacy?
In this writing workshop, we explore narrative techniques and re-imagine an element from Nuno Cera's research and artistic exhibition. The list of participating elements may include: the city of Sines and/or the Central Tejo’s Ashpit 8 room, which houses the exhibition, the photographed elements on display or the photographic medium, but also the plinths, the projection screen, the exhibition sheet and publication, among others.
The aim is to emphasise key ideas or practices that define the chosen element and the spaces it inhabits, while discussing ways of communicating with different audiences through storytelling and narrative. The workshop will develop the spatial qualities of writing based on writing styles, methods of investigation and analysis of the interaction between material and contextual facts whilst putting ideas and objects in dialogue and proposing fictional responses to specific sites.
An orientation session to introduce the subject to the participants is conducted at the exhibition room and a walking workshop. During this workshop, participants are given theoretical input on the main urban theories and will be exposed to techniques and media they can use to narrate their histories and conceptual reflections.
The workshop is ideal for those interested in contemporary cultures of writing.
It will be complemented with a creative writing masterclass.
Programme
10.00–10.15 reception
10.15–10.45: introduction
10.45–11.45: tour of the exhibition Distant Lights with the author Nuno Cera
12.00–13.00: walking seminar
13.00–14.00: break
14.00–15.00: masterclass
14.00–16.00: writing workshop
16.00–17.00: discussion