We were happy and we didn’t know it

«We Were Happy and We Didn’t Know It» is an experimental workshop that aims to deprogram our perception of art vs everyday life through sensory exercises, writing, bodily exploration, active listening, and collective actions. The proposal is based on the premise that our way of inhabiting the world is shaped by automatisms, invisible norms, and perceptual hierarchies that limit what we consider art, value, and experience.

The goal is not to produce artworks or follow pre-established methods, but to activate perception, hack habits, and open up new ways of inhabiting the present—through the body, play, and imagination.

Approach

The workshop is inspired by radical pedagogies, affective knowledge, situated art, and speculative thinking. It draws on references such as Brian Eno, Laurie Anderson, William Morris, Luis Camnitzer, Francisco Toledo, among others, as well as on «Narrative Practices». It reclaims art as a form of attention and existence rather than a discipline or commodity. There are no experts or hierarchies: we all make, feel, reflect, and connect—with ourselves, with others, with territories, with imagination, and with possible forms of hope.

Collective Action

During the first edition in Oaxaca, a small collective action took place in a public space: eating a mango with one’s hands and teeth, without utensils or justification. A minimal gesture that became a sensory statement, a break from the productive rhythm, and a reconnection with everyday pleasure.

Some participants shared that they initially felt embarrassed, but soon relaxed. One person realized they could also occupy public space: “it’s not just for gringos.” A woman passing by asked, puzzled: “Why are so many people eating mangos?!”—prompting laughter and spontaneous conversations. Others began counting aloud how many people were eating mangos in the plaza: “one, two, three...”, as if something unusual was happening in the middle of daily life.

This action wasn’t meant as a performance, but as something embedded in daily life—making visible what’s already there: the right to play, to feel, to be in one’s body without intermediaries. In the end, someone summed it all up with a question: “So… I can just do whatever I want?”

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