Silvia Battista

Silvia Battista was born in Rome, Italy, lived for fifteen years in London and at present lives in Liverpool, UK where she is Senior Lecturer at Liverpool Hope University where she teaches Theatre and Performance Studies. She is a writer and artist interested in areas of research engaged with perception and identity; with all the processes, discourses and practices that affect the way we see ourselves and others. This touches on the ecological, political and cultural issues related to social and ecological justice; on how reality is categorized and consequently who and what is accepted and who and what is excluded. Her objective is to problematize through the lens of performance and performance studies, fixed and singular understandings of reality, to destabilize their dividing boundaries and discriminating practices.

She holds a PhD (2008-2014) in performance studies (Royal Holloway University) with a thesis focused on the notion of the numinous in contemporary performance/live art practices; an MA (2004-2006) in Communication Art and Design (Royal College of Art and Design, London) with a thesis on the work of Alejandro Jodorowsky and the theatricality of his psychomagic practices; and a First Class Honours degree (1992-1996) in Fine Art (Academy of Fine Art, Rome).