(De)ossigenazione is an immersive performance that transports the audience into the depths of the Black Sea—a fragile ecosystem suffocating under the devastating impact of eutrophication.* Through a visual and symbolic narrative, the piece intertwines the ecological crisis’s stark reality with a message of hope and renewal. 

Created during an artistic residency in Sozopol, Bulgaria, as part of the international project EMPACT: Empathy and Sustainability – The Art of Thinking Like a Mountain, the performance reflects on the planet’s uncertain future and nature’s extraordinary capacity to regenerate.

The scene begins in a deep, almost hypnotic silence, evoking the stifling stillness of an anoxic sea. At the center lies a Bulgarian girl, symbolising future generations and their connection to what is yet to come, wrapped in a dark green shroud. This image represents the anoxia suffocating the Black Sea, a direct consequence of eutrophication. The girl’s movements are slow and laborious, as though trapped in a dense, immovable substance. This palpable stillness powerfully underscores the fragility of an ecosystem teetering on the edge of collapse.

Then comes a sign of change: from the cocoon, red gloves suddenly emerge, representing the red algae of the genus Phyllophora, once abundant in the Black Sea and crucial for marine biodiversity. These red gloves symbolise renewal, hinting that, despite widespread devastation, life can reemerge and flourish.

The transformation gathers momentum with a striking chromatic shift: the green cocoon gradually dissolves, giving way to shades of blue—a color symbolising regeneration and the restored purity of the waters. Freed at last, the child dances upon an intense blue fabric, with each movement evoking the return of biodiversity and the resilience of the sea.

The title (De)ossigenazione enriches the layered meaning of the performance through a play on words. It simultaneously evokes the oxygen depletion caused by eutrophication and hints at the possibility of renewal—a return to breath and vitality. In this way, the performance serves as a visual allegory, depicting a powerful journey from suffocation to liberation, from decline to rebirth.

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* Eutrophication is the result of an excess of nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorus, which come from agricultural fertilizers, industrial discharges, and urban runoff. The accumulation of these nutrients causes uncontrolled growth of algae and phytoplankton, whose death and decomposition consume large amounts of oxygen, creating oxygen-depleted areas – “dead zones.” In these areas, marine life cannot survive, and ecosystems collapse, leading to the loss of biodiversity.  

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