performana

Performana is a term used in performance studies and contemporary art to describe a mode of meaning-making in which the act of performing itself is the primary artifact. It foregrounds process over product, invites active audience engagement, and examines how presence, gesture, and context generate understanding.

The term has appeared in scholarly writings and festival contexts as an umbrella for practices that do not fit traditional theatre—site-specific work, participatory installations, street performance, and digital or networked performances where the boundary between performer and spectator becomes permeable.

Origin and usage: Performana emerged as scholars sought language for emergent practices in late 20th and early 21st century performance discourse. It is often linked to discussions of agency, aura, and relational aesthetics, with some writers tracing influence to performative theory and community-based art.

Practice and methods: Practitioners employ site specificity, improvisation, co-creation with audiences, ritualized action, and durational formats to explore social relations, power dynamics, memory, and embodiment.

Reception and critique: Opinions vary; supporters say the term helps analyze how meaning is created in interaction, while critics warn against overgeneralization or conflating diverse practices under a single label. The concept remains a subject of ongoing debate within performance studies.

See also: performance studies; participatory art; durational performance; audience engagement.