Seres Vulneráveis/Vulnerable Beings, Tuning In is the first of two public assemblies curated by Andre Bagnato and Ivan L. Munuera at the MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon.

This programming is a consequence of the identification of human vulnerabilities to pandemics and the biological connection between humans and non-humans, which, depending on geographical and/or social contexts, may constitute a permanent reality. From Zika to dengue, malaria or HIV, how many attacks, less mediatized, on human frailties have been happening around the world?

In several moments and interventions in the event, there is constant use of the term “body” as a target of the human being. In this appropriation of a specific language, in the context of Seres Vulneráveis through the term “body”, we run the risk of identifying a flattening of the human being with their environment and with the other bodies that are part of it. The body of water, the body of work or the body of a book, in these the “body” can indicate any being, object or a set of beings or objects. The choice of using the body as a descriptive term may be the recognition of the need for a pre-integration of the human being in their environment.

Andrea Bagnato has developed investigative work on Architecture, Ecology and Epidemiology; in turn, Ivan L. Munuera is dedicated to the study of the intersection of the condition of the human being/human body with technological, political and cultural contemporaneity. “Which bodies matter in the larger geopolitical maps? How do we confront modern notions of classification and governmentality? What affinities arise in the sharing of activisms? How does medical knowledge sprout?”. These are some questions suggested by the curators and pondered by the guests.

Meike Wolf, one of the invited researchers, gave a lecture on the “invasion” of the Asian tiger mosquito in Europe. She affirmed the versatility of the species, its adaptive capacity and its ability to transmit a virus. Moving away from the specifics of Meike Wolf’s research, we recognized through her work a system of development and expansion of an animal group to which we have devoted little attention – mosquitoes. In this research, we recognize the specificity of our own knowledge. This talk, presented in a cultural event at the Lisbon MAAT, establishes an intersection between fields of study, systems and (dis)connected communities.

Tuning In took place between 29 and 31 October 2021. The second moment of Seres Vulneráveis, entitled Sounding Out, will take place between 26 and 28 November 2021. The programming of Tuning In had several changes throughout the weekend, including timetables and the venue available for the content. We hope that Sounding Out will show greater consistency to explore as much as possible a very timely topic: human vulnerability.