Embodied remembering

Embodied remembering / Helmut Federle, Krzysztof Grzybacz, Tomasz Kowalski, Natasza Niedziółka, Joëlle Tuerlinckx, Aleksandra Waliszewska, Christoph Weber

Most memories are hard to preserve—you have to focus, strain your mind to remember details of a past moment. Others settle so deeply into us, into our bodies, that they are impossible to get rid of. Familiar sounds force the muscles to involuntarily contract. A choreography for those who cannot dance. Familiar scents make the skin tingle.

The body stores memories—of pain, pleasure, a movement’s rhythm, daily routines. It settles comfortably into the familiar shape of a favorite armchair, remembers the touch of a loved one or the taste of a favorite fruit. It tenses in recollection of stress or anticipation of pain or even a phone call, remembers the precise movements of a sports class, or the rhythm of a familiar route on a Sunday walk.

This involuntary remembering of our bodies creates a silent archive of who we have been and what we have done—our muscles remember, our bones are full of the images of past moments, all inhabiting the flesh, even when they disappear from the mind.

Martyna Olejnik