Atlas of Breaths
2026
Length: 75mn
Type:
Introduction
Atlas des Souffles (Atlas of Breaths) explores migration and the climate crisis through dance and movement. Japanese choreographer and interdisciplinary artist Anan Atoyama develops the concept of “direct creation,” in which the work emerges in real time through the participation of the audience. Spectators may choose simply to observe or to engage actively, witnessing human sculptures and living compositions that gradually take shape.
The choreography unfolds through a three-part cycle. First, listening to the voices of people directly affected by floods and rising waters, particularly in Bangladesh and the low-lying islands of the Pacific. Second, integrating scientific knowledge and expert advice as a foundation. Third, experimenting with and refining the choreography in the studio together with citizens and artists. Through this process, data and abstract concepts are transformed into embodied experience, and knowledge becomes lived understanding.
Each participant brings their own rhythm and experience, reactivating the subtle links between movement, memory, action, and resonance. The work questions what it means to “participate” or to “observe” in a fragmented world, while the body carries story, memory, and future, asserting its presence.
By integrating scientific and legal knowledge into bodily experience, Atlas des Souffles takes the form of an open choreographic score, embodying the circular relationship between body, environment, science, and law. Dance invites introspection and opens perspectives that connect individual experience to the world. Here, art does not merely represent the climate crisis: it allows us to feel it, question it, and reconnect our relationships.
“Climate scientist Saleemul Huq (1952–2023), who participated in every United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP), used to compare our global situation to that of the Titanic: a sinking ship divided into three levels: the poorest in the holds, the richest on the upper decks, and, in between, a floating middle class. And, as in the well-known story, it is always the most vulnerable who perish first. A simple metaphor, but one that is terribly accurate.
This project does not seek to assign blame or point fingers. Rather, it offers a sensitive space—a place where everyone can reconsider the situation from a new perspective. A place where people who may never see each other again can, for a shared moment, create together—through gesture, listening, and doubt—a form of poetry made up of questions and wishes yet to be articulated.
Because we are living through a time of upheaval, when hope sometimes seems distant, it is all the more crucial to create spaces of active calm, of sincere dialogue in silence. Places where we breathe together, where presence regains its meaning, and where, at the very heart of disaster, another way of being in the world can emerge.”
This project does not seek to assign blame or point fingers. Rather, it offers a sensitive space—a place where everyone can reconsider the situation from a new perspective. A place where people who may never see each other again can, for a shared moment, create together—through gesture, listening, and doubt—a form of poetry made up of questions and wishes yet to be articulated.
Because we are living through a time of upheaval, when hope sometimes seems distant, it is all the more crucial to create spaces of active calm, of sincere dialogue in silence. Places where we breathe together, where presence regains its meaning, and where, at the very heart of disaster, another way of being in the world can emerge.”
Anan Atoyama
CHOREOGRAPHIC CONCEPTION AND SCENOGRAPHY
Anan Atoyama
Anan Atoyama
COLLABORATORS
Mikiko Kainuma (Senior Research Advisor at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies – Japan)
Developped with :
Jean-Charles François, Saga Ouiya, Bénédicte Reverchon, Maria Espeut, Pascal Pariaud, Karine Hahn, Nicolas Sidoroff, les artistes de Campo Creativi, and the participation of guests during the research phase.
Music
Jean François Pauvros
CONTRIBUTIONS
Contributions on scientific perspectives:
Kazuhiko Takemoto (Chair of the IIASA Board),
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber (General director of IIASA)
Jusen Asuka (Environmental researcher),
Jacob Schewe (PIK’s principal researcher),
Christophe Cassen (Research engineer at CIRED),
Kanako Morita (Environmental economist)
Contributions Based on testimonials :
Emmanuel Cappellin, Doumbia Siaka, Angelina Andy, Sokotia Kulene, Shumpei Uotani, Jérôme Tubiana, Bangladeshi middle school students, in partnership with Friendship NGO
PARTNERS
National Museum of the History of Immigration,
Forum Réfugiés,
Fondation Stin’akri,
PaaLabRes,
Campo Creativi,
Ramdam– art center,
CNSMD-Lyon,
l’Université de Lyon 2,
HfMT Hamburg / Ligeti zentrum,
Arta Sperto,
Dansomètre,
Espace Artaud,
Festival Sens-Interdits,
Friendship France,
Friendship NGO
ADMINISTRATION
Delphine Bagne
OPERATIONS
Marc Ribault
PRODUCTION
AToU