Enej Gala: The Invention of Footsteps

The invention of footsteps is a participatory project by Enej Gala, commissioned by Almanac and realised in partnership with Area Onlus, Associazione ACMOS, Il Giardino di Aurora and Alchemilla.

The project involved two groups of teenagers in a series of workshops focused on puppetry. The construction of puppets and the research of their movements, shapes and sounds to define their characters and universes led the participants, under the guidance of Gala and the mediation of Valentina Roselli, to reflect on themselves, on their daily lives and on the power of art in overturning roles and perspectives.

The sculptures created to be balanced and moved following the gestures, bodies and steps of the participants raise doubts about how much the corresponding bodies influence each other and who, between marionette and puppeteer, actually controls the movements. Who orchestrates and who follows? This ambiguity leaves room to affirm various identities set off by a game played together: a caravan that follows in its own footsteps. The figures follow each other in a free, improvised choreography, driven by the desire for inclusion and to move in relation.

The journey began with a residency at Alchemilla in Bologna where Gala produced the pieces used in Turin at Area Onlus and Acmos Association to do the first exercises with the participants. The activities of puppets making and of sounds and movement improvisation gradually defined the universe and the protagonists of the performance which was staged and filmed by the teenagers themselves. The video, edited by the artist and studio Tridol, and the sculptures created are presented during the days of Artissima at the nursery school Il Giardino di Aurora, where Gala will realize a final workshop later on in November.

Area Onlus has been working alongside families and people with disabilities for forty years to promote inclusion and build together effective responses to specific needs. Area takes care of children and young people with disabilities and Special Educational Needs, their family members and caregivers, welcoming over 350 families every year.

Associazione Acmos was born in 1999 from a group of young people coming from different experiences of volunteering and social commitment, united by the desire to seek together paths of solidarity and justice, participation and responsibility. Its aim is to promote and support democratic inclusion, through projects of education in the values and practices that underpin the culture of active citizenship, aimed particularly at young people.

Enej Gala lives and works between London, Venice and Nova Gorica. In 2014 he was in an exchange at the William De Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. In 2013 he accomplishes his B.A. and in 2015 his M.A. in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. Graduated from Royal Academy Schools Postgraduate Programme in London 2019-2023. Last solo shows: Saving chewing gums from mammoth’s hair at TJ Boulting, London (UK) 2023 and Nevereverevereverevereverever learn at A plus A gallery Venice (IT) 2022. Winner of Xenia residency award and Bow Arts Alcamantar RAW studio award 2023.