Alina Ben Larbi
Alina Ben Larbi is a German-Scottish artist researcher in the field of socially engaged performance art. Her PhD examines how verbatim performance - sharing people's true stories and experiences - can relieve loneliness and foster a sense of belonging in small communities of place. She is passionate about using art to forge connections between people, to our environments, and to ourselves.
After moving from rural Germany to the Highlands to study a BA (Hons) in Drama & Performance, she added a socially engaged component to her work by gaining her MA in Art & Social Practice. Her work has always treated the personal as political and investigates the effect of performance art on societal change.
While her art practice is rooted in performance, it also incorporates elements of poetry and music. Her pieces are the result of deep personal reflections and intimate conversations with participants as well as a constant interplay of art and theory, drawing from research on society and culture.
Research interests:
- Socially engaged performance art
- Communities and connections
- Verbatim storytelling
- Practice-based research
- Interdisciplinary