Art & Culture

The Magic of Shared Emotion: Inside Patrik Gabco’s ‘Grief is Everyone’s’

6 July

Grief belongs to all of us, is by far this years most meaningful creation of mental health through various artistic forms premiered at the CULTVR’s Immersive Research Lab. Patrik Gabco turns this universal truth into an something we haven’t seen before. It is an immersive experience like no other. This multidisciplinary show marks a powerful evolution in Gabco’s creative journey.

Combining movement, silence, poetry, film, acting, music and visual art, Grief is Everyone’s transforms the exploration of mental health and therapy into something visceral, honest and deeply human. His use of creative exploration is what makes the piece, although about something so vulnerable, feel non-judgemental. This is a piece that makes audiences manage to connect without needing to delve deep into their own personal story. But to simply look around and understand that whoever we are, we all understand. We’re not all that different.

At just 23, Gabco has dared to tackle a subject that still carries stigma: our inner struggles, and the ways we try to heal. The piece suggests that grief and mental health challenges are part of being alive, connecting us all in ways we often forget.

Drawing inspiration from emotionally raw films like Marriage Story and Stutz, as well as Kendrick Lamar’s Count Me Out music video, Gabco shapes the performance with a 360-degree projection that invites audiences to collectively explore the unpredictable landscape of mental health and bereavement.

“The result is a visceral piece that mirrors real-life grief: chaotic, universal, deeply human.”

A striking choice lies at the heart of this project: there is no lead character.

“I wanted a show where everyone is telling the same story,” Gabco explains. “We’re all different, but we’re also deeply similar. We all feel sadness, joy, grief — just at different times. That’s what connects us. That’s what makes us feel like we’re in this together.”

So who is the mind behind this bold new work?

Patrik Gabco is a Czech-born dancer, performer and emerging artistic director specialising in popping. He moved to Wales in 2011, which is where he found his creative expression for dance by training with Jukebox Collective since the age of 13. His dance and artistic expression is what has made him feel at home, wherever he goes.

Though Grief is Everyone’s is his first major directorial project, Gabco has been steadily carving out a multifaceted path. In 2022, he joined Seeding for the Future, an opportunity that took him to the Edinburgh Fringe and gave him the confidence to apply for the National Museum’s Bloedd Fund. There, he directed a short piece showcased at the BBC 100 exhibition. Since then, he’s represented Wales at the Rugby World Cup in Marseille, featured in Greenpeace’s latest campaign with Will Poulter, and assisted short films screened at the British Library, Marrakech, and Bozar in Belgium. He’s also shadowed acclaimed creatives like Brooke Milliner and Ivan Blackstock at Breakin’ Convention in 2024.

With Grief is Everyone’s, Gabco proves that he is not just a dancer or a director, but a fearless storyteller who uses art to remind us that, even in our darkest moments — we are not alone.