In the spring of 2023, I had the opportunity with a group of friends/students to witness and gently participate in the evolving process of F.I.R.E. | Edition 02, coordinated by Christina Della Giustina and Karen Vantvelt (alumna MAFA), in collaboration with Prof. Jay Mistry from the Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires. Although I mostly took part as an observer—due to exhaustion and personal limits at the time—the experience deeply moved me. F.I.R.E. unfolded as a space of transdisciplinary exploration through readings, conversations, and sensorial encounters with the more-than-human. What stayed with me was not only the fire itself as metaphor and presence, but the ethos of gathering, listening, and decolonial research that centered relation, reciprocity, and collective embodiment.

This experience—while peripheral in action—was central in resonance. It reminded me of the importance of being present, even quietly, and how simply witnessing with care can be part of a shared process of transformation.