Dani d'Emilia

Dani d’Emilia (they/them) is a queer, non-binary, white Italo-Brazilian artist and educator working at the intersections of performance and visual arts, somatic practices, radical pedagogy, and social-relational-ecological justice.

Their art-life practice is guided by a yearning for metabolic intimacy: a sense of responsible attunement with the web of inseparability that connects all relations, human and beyond. Grounded in transfeminist and decolonial sensibilities and guided by the force of Radical Tenderness, Dani is especially interested in political practices of healing that intertwine artistic, somatic, affective, ecological, and spiritual spheres.

Since 2017, Dani has been part of the collective Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures (CA/BR). They are a co-founder of the immersive theatre company Living Structures (UK) and the art space Roundabout.lx (PT). Previously, they were a member of La Pocha Nostra (US/MX, 2011–2016) and Proyecto Inmiscuir (ES/MX, 2015–2017), and collaborated with AND Lab – Centre for Research in Art-Thinking & Politics of Coexistence (PT/BR, 2018–2021).

Currently, Dani is developing Abscission, a research project in collaboration with Brazilian trans photographer Gabz404. This project explores queer deviations from anthropocentric ideas of individuality and superiority as portals for broader reflections on what we need to intimately and systemically leave behind to create space for new forms of coexistence and metabolic reciprocity.

Additionally, Dani facilitates the Facing Human Wrongs course at the University of Victoria (CA) and coordinates residency programs focusing on the role of the arts in nurturing cognitive, affective, and relational resilience in the face of growing social and ecological collapse.

More info: www.danidemilia.com