TERRA NULLIUS is a performative audiowalk that tries to capture the experience of a distant place. Terra Nullius was a term created by international law to define territories that belonged to no one and could therefore be occupied. These territories can still be found today, e.g. Bir Tawill (a strip of land between Egypt and Sudan), Antarctica, the international sea, and the Moon. But Terra Nullius also has a poetic meaning. It evokes an unexplored territory, an oasis of freedom where one could start over and rethink society.
For a year, Paula Diogo was in Reykjavik developing a project that tried to capture an “experience of place” by combining it with personal and collective narratives. Her process was founded on two simple actions: walking and writing.
TERRA NULLIUS is a performance that strives to overflow the space of the theatre, occupying the city’s geography and the virtual space of discussion and thought.
project direction, creation and performance Paula Diogo
AUDIOWALK: text and voice Paula Diogo sound creation João Bento voice (french version) Estelle Franco voice (flemish version) Célia Fechas light design Daniel Worm dramaturgical support Alex Cassal creative support Alfredo Martins, Estelle Franco, Renato Linhares, Confama (Medellín), Théo Hurel (Amiens), Emma Bonduelle (Kortrijk) and Alexandre Sá (Vila do Conde) scenic space Frame Colectivo (Agapi Dimitriadou and Gabriela Salazar) and Elsa Mencagli (Erasmus + intern) stage photography M.Zakrzewski (Reykjavik), João Tuna (Lisbon), Susana Paiva/CITEMOR (Montemor-o-Velho), Daniela Batancur (Manizales and Medellín/San Ignácio), João Bento (Manizales, Medellín/San Ignácio, Amiens and Kortrijk), Margarida Ribeiro (Vila do Conde) and Elsa Mencagli (Reykjavik) proofreading Ana Macedo, Alberto Piris Guerra and Manuela Sousa Tavares executive production Vanda Cerejo communication support Carlos Alves
PUBLICATION: concept and edition Frame Colectivo and Paula Diogo graphic design Masako Hattori photos Paula Diogo texts and images (cover) Claudia Galhós, Cláudia Varejão, Clelia Bettini, Djaimilia Pereira (by Humberto Brito), Eva Rún Snorradóttir, Felipe Ribeiro, Gabriela Farinha, Haraldur Jónsson, Jacinto Lucas Pires, Joana Gorjão Henriques, Maria João Machado, Maud Veith, Paula Diogo, Renato Linhares, Rui Santos, Satu Herrala, Silvia Iroldi, Tiago Pereira, Þorgerður E. Sigurðardóttir, Viðar Jónsson and Yvette Centeno edition Alex Cassal and Paula Diogo english translation Joana Frazão spanish translation Maria João Machado french translation Marie-Amélie Robilliard flemish translation Lut Caenen spanish translation Maria João Machado english proofreading Alexander Kelly and Hilary Foster final proofreading (portuguese, english and french) Emanuel Cameira final proofreading (spanish) Alberto Piris-Guerra additional translations Ana Macedo photographic selection João Tuna additional photographs (cover) João Bento, João Tuna, M. Zakrzewski and Susana Paiva/Citemor audio inserts João Bento executive production Vanda Cerejo printing and calibration Gráfica Maiadoro
co-production Má-Criação and TNDMII co-production residencies Citemor, Arquipélago – Centro de Artes Contemporâneas and O Espaço do Tempo creative partners Alkantara, Galeria Zé dos Bois artistic residency support Companhia Olga Roriz support CML – Pólo Cultural Gaivotas | Boavista
work developed with a grant from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the GDA Foundation’s Cultural Fund in 2018/19 project financed by the Portuguese Republic – Culture / Directorate-General for the Arts.
Má-Criação is a structure supported by the Lisbon City Council and housed in Alkantara.
Paula Diogo’s work is supported by apap – FEMINIST FUTURES – a project co-funded by the Creative Europe Program of the European Union.
OPENING
Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, Lisbon PT, October 2020
TOUR
LHÍ – Iceland Academy of Arts (in development), Reykjavik IS, 2019
Festival CITEMOR (in development), Montemor-o-Velho PT, 2019
PT21 – Portuguese Platform for Performing Arts (online version), 2021
Festival de Teatro y Música San Ignacio, Medellín CO, September 2021
FIT Festival Internacional de Teatro, Manizales CO, October 2021
RDF 2021 Reykjavik Dance Festival, Reykjavik IS, November 2021
Festival Amiens Europe, Amiens FR, January 2022
Feminist Futures Festival, Lisbon PT, January 2022
Festival Almost Summer, Kortrijk BE, June 2022
Festival Circular, Vila do Conde PT, September 2022
Atlas da Solidão Programme (solo walks), Lisbon PT, May 2023
Tanzfabrik – Feminist Futures weekend, Berlin DE, September 2023
Kondenz – Feminist Futures, Belgrade RS, October 2023
Cielos del Infinito, Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales CL, November 2023
Sala Verdi, Montevideo UY, November 2023
Teatro-Cine Torres Vedras, Torres Vedras PT, May 2024
Solar dos Abacaxis, Rio de Janeiro BR, June 2024
Santa Cruz.365, Santa Cruz PT, August 2024
Teatro de La Rendija, Merida MX, 2024
Liquid Becomings, Lisbon PT, November 2024
VIDE Festival de Artes pela Rua, Castelo de Vide PT, August 2025
Festival Síntese La Gorrilla, Vigo ES, October 2025