Serralves em Festa hosted an artistic laboratory on fungi

As part of Serralves em Festa 2026, SINFONIA organised Multispecies Attunement: Fungi, an open-air eco-somatic artistic laboratory that invited the public to explore new ways of relating to the living world. Open to participants of all ages and requiring no previous experience, the activity brought together art, science and ecology through direct experience.

Listening with the whole body

Throughout the sessions, participants were challenged to slow down and pay attention to their own bodies, the surrounding environment and the invisible fungal networks present within ecosystems. Through simple movements, sensory awareness practices and deep listening exercises, the laboratory sought to foster attentiveness, curiosity and empathy towards other forms of life.

The initiative was supervised by Cristina Sá and involved the collaboration of Dila Yumurtacı, Jessica Gaspar, Guy Fleisher and Pedro Ribeiro, bringing together different artistic and scientific perspectives.

Art, sound and research

One of the central elements of the experience was the use of the sonification of biosignals to create soundscapes inspired by fungal activity, inviting participants to experience sound as a form of relationship and presence.

The laboratory also included an optional component involving the collection of physiological data through Fitbit watches, enabling the exploration of the connection between artistic experience and scientific research.

By taking part in Serralves em Festa 2026, SINFONIA reinforced its mission of bringing research closer to society by promoting spaces where science, art and sustainability come together to imagine new ways of inhabiting the world.