Contemplative walk
Letter to participants of “Tracce di paesaggio. Tra immobilità, fiducia e contemplazione”
The project Landscape Sections is a call…
… for stillness as our inner right and as a strategy to remain;
… for trust as a mutual commitment to ephemeral encounters;
… for contemplation as a gateway to imagination and empathy.
As part of TiD 2025 in Mendrisio, I invite you to collaborate with the project Tracce di paesaggio. Tra immobilità, fiducia e contemplazione taking part in this participative call:
I am Elenita Queiroz, a Brazilian artist based in St. Gallen, and I propose a self-guided experience in which you walk at your own pace, stopping to reflect on a place that has meaning for you. After the walk, write me a letter to share your thoughts and feelings. These letters, as a choreographer, will serve me as inspiration for a movement score that will shape the live performance Traces of Landscape, which will take place on 1 and 2 July 2025, during the TiD Festival, in Mendrisio.
Your reflections will help shape a collective, attentive and joyful performance centered on presence, subtle movement and shared space.
A detailed guide for the contemplative walk is attached, and if you have any further questions, please contact the TiD Festival.
I look forward to receiving your letter and thank you in advance for your generosity and cooperation.
Warmly,
Elenita Queiróz, May 2025
www.elenitaqueiroz.ch
Practical Guide: Contemplative Walk – Letters
Before you begin, I invite you to carry the spirit of my personal letter with you—as if it were tucked into your pocket. Let it guide your pace, soften your gaze, and open a space for something unexpected to emerge. What follows are a few gentle suggestions to support your journey into this contemplative practice.
What do you do when you're not doing anything?
This is an invitation—to pause.
To step gently outside the rhythms of daily life.
To walk, to breathe, to notice.
To be with yourself, fully, in the quiet presence of a landscape that belongs to you too.
How to Begin:
- Wear something comfortable.
- Bring water.
- Choose your beloved path, one that is familiar to you, or one that somehow attracts you.
- Walk slowly. Breathe deeply. Let your senses guide you.
- If possible, leave phones and electronic devices behind or turned off.
- Be present: feel the ground beneath your feet, listen to the sounds around you, notice the quality of the light, the air, the textures, movements, and life around you.
- Try to remain in silence as you walk. At a moment that feels right, let yourself pause. Find a spot that calls to you—perhaps a bench, a patch of grass, a shaded corner. Sit, lie down, or lean back. Let your body rest and settle. Stay in that place for at least 10 minutes. Let the world come to you.
During your pause, you might reflect on…
- I see…
- I smell…
- I think about…
- I remember…
- I wish…
- I imagine a dance like this… (What are the movements? The rhythm? The bodies? The silence? The music?)
After Your Walk:
When the experience is still fresh, take a moment to write the letter.
There are no rules—write freely. It might be notes, fragments, images, memories, or feelings. It might be messy, or poetic. It might contain draws, sketches…
Let the writing be a continuation of the walk. A soft trace of your presence.
Send letters by 15.6.25 at
Festival Ticino in Danza
c/o Ass. Veicolo Danza
Via Prella 24
6852 Genestrerio
whatsapp 076 582 7345