Absent bodies. Bodies off stage, out of focus, outside categories. Bodies on the edge, in confinement. Bodies that disturb, that do not respond to expectations. Bodies that provoke.

After travelling through the plural Mediterraneans, Oriente Occidente returns plural bodies to the centre, shifting the gaze from geographical and geopolitical coordinates to profoundly human geographies. These are the many unseen bodies, those that reclaim their space, whose absence transforms into a political, poetic, and narrative presence.

We open a new chapter of research and vision, daring to inhabit an uncomfortable space. This allows us to look at what exists beyond the spotlight, to listen to those who have no voice, and to give shape and substance to the complexity we need to overcome simplistic and polarised interpretations of the world.

Through performances, events, encounters, and moments of reflection, the Festival becomes a truly free place. Here, every gesture, every voice, every movement is simultaneously an act of resistance and reconquest - a safe space where communities can be created, reality transformed, and standardisation opposed.

With Absent Bodies we gain the chance to see where we do not look, to return what has been stolen, and to listen to what has been silenced. Through flesh, gesture, and stories we can make the invisible visible. We can recognise the body of absence. And above all, once again, we can do it as it truly belongs to us, as we are capable, in the way that works best. Together.