There is an uncomfortable nightmare... you waked up, walk into the bathroom, see your reflection only to realize it is nothing of the sort: the you on the other side of the mirror does not copy all your movements, in fact, it seems as alive as you, another you with its own agency. A surprise, but not a terror. The terror only starts when the other you jumps forward, emerges its arms from the mirror's surface, grabs you and before you can blink, you are trapped in the mirror and the Other has taken your place in reality.

It is a nightmare, only because it ends here. Were this to be a simple prologue, and it would have been an adventure. Two yous walking about, discovering entire new worlds, so very similar and at the same time eerily unique.

SIRIUS4all proposed such an adventure. What if Art could be more than just a reflection? What if it could also be a portal, a tunnel at which's end light shines? What if we traverse this gate and find ourselves in a different Europe, one where crises, despair and discouragement are not the main features?

At its core, SIRIUS4all is a collective grounded on Sofia, Copenhagen, Berlin, Perugia and Lisbon, that opens its small friendly circle to avatars of Odysseus: those who have been transformed by Journey, those who reach their shores as Foreigners and still make it their Kingdom. Artists who have migrated, either with their feet, their mind, or their hearts. SIRIUS4all is a collective cognizant of their nature as both Selfs and Others, arranging a simple picnic, a space within space, where they can experiment a way forward.

After learning from the experiences of #MultiFRAMEd:Sofia, a gathering in Bulgaria that explored the psychological formation of Others (external and internal) in a liquid Europe, of #ReImagining:Europe, a walk in Denmark that asked how much sand from the homeland remains inside our shoes after we reach and elsewhere, of #Sounding:EUROPE, a German chamber that captured the sounds of this continent, native and newcomer, weaving them into symphony, and #Autobiographing:Europe, a sunny afternoon in Italy where the self is proudly discovered by the other, and the present sits unabashedly atop the past, #Imagining Europe Otherwise offered a Portuguese school, an institution disintegrating from the weight of time, change and shame, where the possibility of survival resides only in each other... the other as saviour.

As it so often happens, if you can wait long enough, the nightmare turns into an adventure.

Saravá!

ivo