In a world facing ecological emergencies and systemic upheavals, Floating Cities stands out as a deeply committed work. At the crossroads of artistic languages, this project led by Elsa Mroziewicz and Cécile Palusinski questions the link between humans and the ocean.
Each imagined floating city draws inspiration from concrete initiatives to address environmental challenges, stemming from a variety of cultural and geographical contexts. Floating Cities gives shape and voice to these alternatives through an immersive aesthetic, where augmented reality and sound poetry interact, weaving connections between them to better convey, awaken, and connect.
Here, there is nothing abstract or theoretical: the work is rooted in the territories traversed, in the gestures observed, in the stories collected during residencies in Taiwan, India, Tunisia, Morocco, Brazil, the United States, and France. Each painting thus becomes a fragment of the world, inhabited by voices, memories, and solutions rooted in lived experience.
It is an art of connection that unfolds: a connection between ancient knowledge, through embroidery, and contemporary technologies, between scientific data and poetic narration, between the political and the sensory. Thanks to the Under The Starry Vault mobile app, viewers are invited to animate the images and listen to sound haikus and audio logs. They are no longer mere visitors, but storytellers, activating a living memory where the voices of the world resonate.
Beyond the interactive device, it is also a subtle reflection on time that runs through the entire work.. The almost instantaneous nature of digital technology contrasts sharply with the slow pace of embroidery. Created in collaboration with embroidery collectives in Brazil (Bumba Meu Boi da Floresta de Mestre Apolônio, São Luís) and India (Kalhath Institute, Lucknow), these embroideries give form to the invisible, to currents, corals, and creatures of the deep.
By choosing to combine technology and craftsmanship, speed and slowness, Floating Cities creates a space for listening and contemplation, where the re-enchantment of the world becomes possible—not as a return to the past, but as a movement toward a livable future, shaped by imagination and a commitment to life.
© 2025 |
