Cultivating Together – Presence, Connection and Balance

A project by Locuratolo & Bernadette Zdrazil
Part of the “Expanding Academy” program
Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp · Oct 2023 – June 2024

How can awareness of body and mind help reshape the academic environment?

This question marked the starting point of our research project at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp – initiated by Bernadette Zdrazil and myself, Locuratolo. At its core, the project explored Yoga, Meditation, and Nutrition as tools to cultivate presence, connection, and balance in artistic everyday life.

We began with a needs assessment among students, which revealed high levels of mental and physical strain. In response, we initiated a weekly program offering sessions focused on movement, breathwork, meditation, and body awareness – always in open dialogue with participants. From these sessions, the term “Meta Sculpting” emerged – coined by students to describe the mental clarity and reconfiguration enabled by meditative practice.

The project opened with a public event featuring Chiara Ravano (body therapy) and Hadas Cnaani (food culture), who spoke about the microbiome, mental health, and nourishment as interconnected systems that shape both inner states and creative processes. Our aim was not only to offer individual grounding, but also to create a shared space for reflection, care, and dialogue within the academy.

Despite structural challenges – like limited availability of spaces or the packed student schedule – the interest and need for such offerings were clear. Many students expressed a wish to see these practices more deeply embedded into the academic curriculum.

“Cultivating Together” was never meant to be conclusive – it was an invitation. A first step toward co-creating a culture of awareness, presence, and inner balance in art education. It offered a moment to rethink well-being not as an individual luxury, but as a shared condition for creative life.