In particular the project:

• involved multiple guests, families, OTAF operators in a creative process,
• raised awareness among residents and cultural and social realities of the neighborhood and the territory on disability issues,
• built project links and joint activities with them.

The SCT program was designed for three target groups, with varying levels of engagement depending on the activities:

• The group of OTAF operators defined as “Sensitive Antennas”, which receives a type of SCT training aimed at developing personal skills and acquiring the tools necessary to continue the community training path
• Operators, families, OTAF guests, who told their story through theatrical interviews, which became part of the community dramaturgy of the events
• The citizens and the community surrounding the OTAF Foundation, which are involved in awareness-raising paths on disability

The artistic and educational activities of the project

December 6 2016
The Festival of Light
A Theatre and Community event. The carpentry and Sala Tre Vele spaces at OTAF hosted the project’s inaugural event for residents, families, and staff. The evening featured festivities, shared meals, collective rituals, and theatrical storytelling inspired by the themes of home and light. Guests were greeted with biscuits and warm beverages, and a procession of OTAF residents commenced the celebration, bearing gifts crafted by the day centers, workshops, and foyers, all gathered beneath a grand Tree of Light constructed by OTAF’s carpentry workshop. Accompanied by accordion music, the audience ascended to Sala Tre Vele to witness the theatrical narrative, which chronicled OTAF’s century-long history up to the present day, drawing from the personal accounts of past and present OTAF residents gathered by the SCT Centre team in the preceding months.

Autumn of 2016 – Autumn of 2017
The Sensitive Antennas group
Sensitive Antennas is the name of a group of twenty OTAF operators who took part in the training course conducted with the Social and Community Theater methodology. The meetings were dedicated to the promotion of resilience and work and personal wellbeing, to the care relationship and to the acquisition of tools and techniques in working with colleagues, users and families. The Sensitive Antennas group was actively involved in the realization of the events and promoted the project to the OTAF community and the community of the Ticino territory.

June 3-4 2017
The community performance Albergo della Luce
A large-scale touring event of Community Theatre and Art. The OTAF Foundation’s grounds welcomed hundreds of attendees for a large-scale community event. The audience gathered in Piazza Nava to await the parade, which commenced at the Sorengo church and comprised the band, schoolchildren, OTAF users, staff, and artists. Alpine horns heralded the inauguration ceremony for the new Casa Nava building and signaled the release of hundreds of white and blue balloons into the sky. Beginning on Saturday afternoon and continuing for three performances, a grand traveling spectacle unfolded, featuring over one hundred and thirty individuals, including residents, the SCT Centre team, and members of the Ticino community.
Through the artistic reimagining of spaces and everyday objects, the performance shared with the community the stories of parents, staff, and residents who have lived and continue to live at OTAF.

December 5-6 2017 and April 15 2018
La costruzione di un amore (The creation of love)
A theatrical production. On stage, two actors and four musicians narrate the tapestry of emotions and actions woven by parents, adoptive parents, educators, chefs, carpenters, healthcare professionals, and teachers around the life of an individual who, in our society’s general parlance, we refer to as “disabled.” This tapestry begins at birth with the parents’ feelings, intertwines with the unique and singular life of each person with a disability, and evolves over time into a complex and challenging choral construction, much like the creation of love.

DEBUT
December 5 2017, at 08:30 PM, Social Theatre of Bellinzona (Piazza Governo 11)

REPLICAS
December 6 2017, at 08:30 PM, Kursaal Theatre of Locarno (Piazza Grande 18)
April 15 2018, at 5:00 PM, Sala Aragonite, Manno (via ai Boschetti 10)

Single ticket CHF 20.- Reservation is recommended.

The documentary
The project is carefully documented through photos and videos that will become a documentary with the aim of reporting some of the moments of the project path in its various preparatory phases and in the public moments of representation. It will also contain some interviews with the public and the audience.