Rehearsing family – do it

The following scores had been launched with the aim to think and act towards the intentional acquiring of new family experience on a wide and synergic level, and not just in the frame of a single artist photo project.
It is an invitation to all who consider themselves a family to participate in short activities that could transform passive family behavior in a simple and easily accessible way. Families are invited to document their experience (using text, image or sound) and send it to artists’ e-mail. The objective is to gather all the experiences in one place (the website) and to encourage others to try.
Currently proposed activities are divided into five groups: During lunch/dinner/snack; Entertainment; Broadening horizons, Intimacies, Against the commonplaceness of indoor space. However, these should be taken only as suggestions, since the number of exercises is endless and each family can decide on the activities they want to initiate. Some of the examples of these participations are presented in the book “Rehearsing family” published by the Museum of modern and contemporary art Rijeka.

Here it goes!

During lunch / dinner / snacks

1. Ladies and gentlemen. Spend the entire meal addressing each other formally, using Mr, Miss or Mrs.

2. Foreign language. Spend the entire meal talking in a foreign language. Everyone chooses the language he/she wants to speak, so maybe there will be several foreign languages spoken at the table. Those who don’t speak a foreign language should spend the entire meal in silence.

3. The D in a day. Each family member describes during dinner the weirdest or most valuable thing that he/she experienced that day.

4. Chinese tea. Drink tea in the smallest room in the apartment. Prepare a larger amount of delicious tea.

5. Another gender. Spend an entire meal addressing yourself and other members in the opposite gender.

6. A wish of the day. Every member makes a wish for a member sitting to his/her right that could be fulfilled on that day.


7. Family collage. Create a family portrait by making a collage of family portraits, mixing and matching heads and body parts from different members.

8. Wardrobe. Each member wears another member’s clothes for one day.

9. Choir. One member teaches others to sing hers/his favorite song.

10. Illustration. Everybody sketches one family member by looking at his/ her photo.

11. Anthem. Each member plays his/her favorite song to other members. After that, they all search for a family song and learn it, and possibly, even use it as a family’s anthem.

12. Pleasure. Massage each other’s feet /palms/ back/ face (you can do it while watching TV).

13. Material. Everyone tells a story about other members starting with the sentence: “If he/she were to be a material, he/she would be __________, because __________, and it would be good to use it for_______.”

14. The symbol of belonging. Each member makes a friendship bracelet using the material found in the apartment.

15. Dream. Switch bedrooms for one night.

16. Talk-show. One member is the host of a TV show, while the other is the guest. The guest chooses his favorite pop-star and pretends to be him/her. The third member is the cameraman. Others are just viewers until it is their turn to switch roles.

Broadening the horizons:

17. Spirituality. Read about a religion you know nothing about. Borrow a book from the library or read online.

18. Reading out loud. One member reads to the others a book that she/he is currently reading.

19. Appreciation. Each family member holds a presentation about the person she/he extremely respects (in professional, spiritual or any other sense).

20. Chief. Choose the Chief of the day. Everyone approaches him/her when they have a question. The Chief has the final word on any matter that occurs that day.

21. Getting to know a profession. One member interviews others about their professions. He/she asks about working hours/ surroundings/ the worst and the best sides of each profession. If a member is unemployed, he/she chooses the profession that he/she would like to have one day and answers accordingly.

22. Documentary. Watch a documentary and discuss its main topics.


23. Understanding fear. A member chooses a fear for which he/she assumes that the other member has and talks about it as if that was his/her own fear.

24: A letter to a child. Everyone writes a letter to one member, addressing that member as an eight-year-old boy/ girl.

25. Silence. Look into each other’s eyes in silence for ten minutes.

26. Separations. Everyone writes a letter to one member imagining that they will not be able to see or talk to each other for the next ten years.

27. Relaxation. In a conversation, choose a member who’s going through a rough patch. Join together to give her/him a message and make him/her a creative gift of support.

Against the commonplaceness of indoor space:

28. First time. One member leads others to the place of his/her first kiss and tells a story about it. Others share stories about their first kiss/sex as well.

29. A place from mother’s childhood. Each member of the family (except for the mother) prepares (or buys) a sequence of dishes. After that, eat the meal altogether in the mother’s schoolyard.

30. A picture with a stranger. Take a walk down a popular promenade. Everyone picks out a person who is, according to their opinion, well-dressed. The whole family then takes a picture with that person.

31. Screaming. Take a ride to a forest. When you find an empty place, take the load off yourselves by screaming at the trees and in the air for five minutes. After that, scream by looking at each other. Avoid any words.

32. Monochromatic. Take a walk all dressed in the same color and ask a passerby to take a picture of you at a place of your choice.


Other projects