The Possibility of a World. Gestures, Images and Maps of the Deligny Archipelago
A day of meetings, screenings, and conversations dedicated to the work of French writer and educator Fernand Deligny (1913–1996) and his “attempt” in the Cévennes, one of the most radical pedagogical experiments of the late twentieth century.
Event information
Date: June 7, 2026
Time: 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Category: Meetings
Organizer: MIC Faenza – International Museum of Ceramics
Viale A. Baccarini n. 19, Faenza
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Contacts
Phone: +39 0546 69 73 11
Email: info@micfaenza.org
Website: micfaenza.org
The project
The initiative is proposed by the association Comunaria APS with the study group “I gesti mancanti” and focuses on the experience carried out by Fernand Deligny starting in the late 1960s in the Cévennes, southern France.
In this context, Deligny, together with non-specialist collaborators, experimented with forms of coexistence with non-verbal autistic children, building a daily life made of gestures, rhythms, and habits outside traditional language.
The aim of the meeting is to question the possibility of “living in close presence” and to reflect on new forms of relation, care, and coexistence.
Program of the day
10:00–11:30 | Auditorium
Introduction by Emanuele Dattilo and screening of the film Aucun d’eux ne dit mot (44’) by Jacques Lin
11:30–12:00 | Break
12:00–13:30 | Garden or White Room
Conversation with Jacques Lin, Claire Doyon, Sandra Alvarez de Toledo, and Richard Copans
13:30–15:00 | Break
15:00–16:30 | Garden or White Room
Second meeting with guests and further exploration of Deligny’s thought
16:30–18:00 | Auditorium
Screening of the film Monsieur Deligny, vagabond efficace (95’) by Richard Copans, in the presence of the director
18:00–18:45 | Auditorium
Final conversation with the director and closing of the day
Participation
Free admission with mandatory reservation.
Bookings: 0546 697311 – info@micfaenza.org
Topics
The project explores the “Deligny archipelago” as a way of thinking a different political anthropology, where gesture precedes language and opens new forms of existence.
At the center of the reflection is the idea that it is not about “re-educating the other,” but about questioning what Western perception lacks in understanding the human.
Participants
The day involves scholars, filmmakers, and researchers including Jacques Lin, Claire Doyon, Sandra Alvarez de Toledo, Richard Copans, Emanuele Dattilo, Lucia Amara, and Federica Lucchesini, together with the study group “I gesti mancanti.”
Study group and Comunaria APS
“I gesti mancanti” is a research group founded in Faenza in 2024, bringing together somatic, artistic, anthropological, and philosophical practices.
Since 2026, its activities are promoted by Comunaria APS, an association dedicated to research and knowledge-sharing in aesthetic, clinical, and pedagogical fields.
Image credits
Map drawn by Jean Lin in the Le Serret area, June 28, 1975
© L’Arachnéen and Gisèle Durand-Ruiz (Fernand Deligny Archives)
In Cartes et lignes d’erre, Paris, L’Arachnéen, 2013, p. 255
