El Viaje is an urban walk that leads a group toward a nearby “island.” Along the way, a guide engages participants by questioning the expectations this word—island—evokes: a place of distance, exoticism, boundaries. Through the landscape, fragments of personal history emerge, rooted in experiences of migration and interwoven with both human and non-human flows.
By inverting the usual relationship between the length of a journey and the time spent at its destination, the performance invites us to refocus our attention on the path itself and on the group that takes shape along the way. An ephemeral community, united by a shared sensorial experience.
Each edition of El Viaje is rewritten according to the context in which it unfolds and the biography of the guide invited for the occasion, making every journey unique and unrepeatable.
Bio
Cardellini ◇ Gonzalez is a Swiss artistic duo formed by Igor Cardellini and Tomas Gonzalez. Their research engages with architecture in an expanded sense — from spatial and institutional design to the architectures of power — and examines how these structures shape identities, bodies, behaviors, and imaginaries. Together, they create both site-specific works in public space and performances for theatre settings.
Igor Cardellini is a visual and performance artist with a background in anthropology, sociology, and political science. He has collaborated with Jérôme Bel, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Wojciech Grudziński, Sara Leghissa, and Julian Farade. He was an artist-in-residence at the Istituto Svizzero in Rome (2022–23) and is a 2025 fellow at the European Ceramic Workcentre (EKWC) in the Netherlands.
Tomas Gonzalez studied Humanities and Theatre in Lausanne, where he now teaches at La Manufacture – HES-SO. His research investigates processes of imitation and reactivation within the history of acting. He has worked as an actor or dramaturg with Jérôme Bel, Milo Rau, Yan Duyvendak, Fanny de Chaillé, Stefan Kaegi, Mohammad Al Attar, and Sara Leghissa.
Credits
Direction: Igor Cardellini, Tomas Gonzalez
With: Xin Alessandro Zheng
Administration, production: Isabelle Campiche, Valérie Niederoest
Based on an original idea by: Colectivo utópico – Rita Aquino, Paula Baró, Igor Cardellini, Felipe de Assis, Tomas Gonzalez, Marina Quesada
Partners: Festival de la Cité Lausanne, FIBA Buenos Aires, FIAC Festival Internacional Artes Cênicas Salvador, far° festival Nyon, Swiss Theatre Days (shortlist 2024), Short Theatre Rome, Viernulvier Ghent, Festival de Marseille, BASE Milano
Support: Ville de Lausanne, Pro Helvetia, Fondation Jan Michalski, Fondation Leenaards
