OPIA is a public art installation, an immersive live event, and a community collaboration.
OPIA is an invitation to question our relationship with the street, which has become a space of “passage”, and our presence in it.
“We’re starting from a recognition: our streets and public spaces have become dehumanized. We’re more individually connected and digitally wired than ever, but less present with each other. Streets once brought people together — neighbors would bring out chairs to talk, watch the world go by, and just be together. Each city, town, and neighborhood had its own rhythm, shaped by the people who lived there. But over time, what we used to call ‘the street’ has been renamed ‘public space’. That small change in wording has led to a bigger shift in meaning: these spaces are now managed, regulated, and often designed from far away — without real connection to the people who use them. Rules and restrictions have multiplied. Instead of places to gather, these spaces have become places to pass through or consume. We want to reclaim the street as a human space — one for presence, connection, and shared experience.” Ferran Orobitg, experience creator
OPIA (plural of the ancient Greek word for “eyes”) describes the intense sensation of omnipresent energy we feel when we have direct and reciprocal eye contact with a stranger.
The project can be made up of three parts — with Parts II and III being optional.
An installation of a hundred theater seats placed throughout a space — some in plain sight, others tucked away in unusual or hard-to-reach spots: rooftops, balconies, public squares, even up in trees. The goal is to turn the street into a space for being — where pedestrians are invited to pause, take a seat, look around, connect, and simply exist in the moment.
Suddenly, six performers appear in the public space, each pushing a wheeled theater chair. They move together in a kind of choreographed dance, reacting to the space around them — a playful, poetic movement of chairs and people. It’s a game of glances and shifting perspectives, involving everyone present — whether they’re part of the action or just passing by.
In the Zulu culture of South Africa, one of the most meaningful greetings is Sawubona, which means: “I see you. You are important to me. I value you.” The typical response is Shikoba, meaning: “Then I exist for you.” This simple exchange centers the power of truly seeing and being seen.
Inspired by this idea, Sawubona is an intimate experience designed for two people at a time. It starts at a location previously selected by the company. Each performer accompanies two local participants, seated side by side in a pair of chairs. From there, they are guided through a gentle journey, not to perform, but just to be present.
It offers a new way of seeing the city, a moment of quiet observation and reflection, where you look and are looked at, shifting the boundaries between performer, audience, and participant. As the chairs move through familiar surroundings, a new kind of film unfolds — made not with cameras, but through attention and presence.
