A weekend of performance, vulnerability, & connection at Art as Autobiography with Abel Azcona, Barcelona: https://abelazcona.art/
There’s something quietly radical about stepping out of your own intensity for a moment, especially in the middle of a demanding academic schedule, & into a space where everything is laid bare.
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to reconnect with Spanish performance artist Abel Azcona during his Art as Autobiography workshop, held at The Over Gallery in Barcelona. Running from Friday afternoon through to Sunday evening, the workshop culminated in a series of individual performances by each participant – raw, unapologetic, & deeply human.
I first crossed paths with Abel in 2022 while working on No Intermission with the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI) in collaboration with Theatre Carre in Amsterdam. Since then, our paths have continued to intersect, intensely in 2024 when I participated in a longer Art as Autobiography workshop format at MAI, in Karyes, Greece, & most recently in 2025 during his largest retrospective to date in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
This weekend, I joined the group more informally. On Saturday, I met the artists during their lunch break, a welcome pause from my own university workload. It was grounding to step into their process, even briefly, before returning to my studies & then rejoining them later that evening.
Dinner turned into one of those expansive, meandering conversations that only seem to happen when artists gather without pretence. Concepts were unpacked, practices compared, vulnerabilities shared. There was laughter, depth, & the kind of openness that doesn’t exist in surface-level exchanges…& yes, true to form, Abel led us to ice cream that was genuinely next level. A small but perfect reminder that intensity & joy can coexist.
Sunday’s performances were something else entirely.
Despite the workshop being an intensive weekend format, the level of work presented was undeniably professional – refined yet emotionally charged. Each piece carried the weight of lived experience. This wasn’t performance as spectacle; it was performance as excavation.
Watching as a spectator was powerful. Participating in one of the performances was something deeper again.
To be invited into someone else’s autobiographical expression – especially by an artist I feel a kindred connection with – requires trust. What unfolded in that moment was exactly what this kind of work makes possible – a collapse of distance between artist & audience, self & other. Artistic performance can be confronting, yes, but also grounding, connective, & unexpectedly healing.
What continues to strike me about these spaces is the generosity. People choose to share, not polished versions of themselves, but the complex, uncomfortable, often unspoken realities of being human. It creates an environment where conversations that are usually avoided become not only possible, but necessary.
Grief, trauma, identity, memory, nothing is off limits. In that exposure, something shifts. It’s not about resolution. It’s about confrontation. Witnessing. Release.
By the end of the night, after the performances & long conversations over food & drinks, there was a palpable sense of lightness. Not because anything had been ‘fixed’, but because it had been expressed – moved out of the internal & into the shared.
Walking home through the warm Barcelona evening, I felt that shift in my body. Lighter. More open. Reminded, again, why this kind of work matters.
If this resonates with you, I invite you to follow along with my practice as it continues to evolve across art, performance, & design. You can subscribe to stay updated on new projects, writings, & collaborations, or reach out directly if you’re interested in working together. I’m always open to connecting with others who are drawn to creative exploration, honest expression, & work that pushes beyond the surface.
Larissa Sarina BAGLIERI 