Sarah Shin | ritual ๐น๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐ท๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”

Date: 3 March 2021, 19:00 (EET)
Address: Tech Arts gallery, Vaidilutes st. 79, Vilnius

On the 3 Marchย at 19:00, we are inviting you to spend some time together and do a peaceful meditation Forest Dreaming with Sarah Shin at the Tech Arts gallery.

We ask all of our friends, followers and attendees of this event to donate to verified Ukrainian funds and continue sharing relevant information with those in need:ย how-to-help-ukraine-now.super.site/

The practice, with music by MJ Harding and spatial design by Emma Bang and Monika Januleviฤiลซtฤ—, will be followed by a conversation with Sarah Shin, Bea Xu (remotely) and Tautvydas Urbelis.ย 

Forest Dreaming is a practice of yoga nidra. Also known as yogic or contemplative sleep, yoga nidra aids active rest and conscious relaxation by entering a liminal state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep. In Forest Dreaming, you will experience a guided meditation exploring the connections between language, ecology and consciousness and drawing on Deep Listening: to the forest outside and inside. You will be invited to form a sankalpa โ€“ a seed of heartfelt intention or resolve to sow into your mind during the practice. The practice will take place lying down โ€“ please ensure you are dressed comfortably and warmly and bring a blanket, bolster, eye pillow, or anything else to support you to be as luxuriously cosy as possible.ย 

Through practice, every circumstance can become an occasion for awakening to the imbricated and simultaneous nature of realities whose connection is profound, but often obscure to the โ€˜ordinaryโ€™ conscious mind, which overlays what is with concepts and beliefs. Here, you may find something of the wild profusion of meaning emanating from the enigmatic interstices of our lives refracted into a seed, containing, to paraphrase Donna Haraway, a history of practices inside its coat.

SARAH SHIN

Sarah Shin is a publisher, curator and writer. She is the founder of New Suns, a curation and storytelling project, which began as a literary festival at the Barbican Centre in London. She is also among the co-founders of Silver Press, a feminist publisher, and Ignota Books, a platform at the intersection of technology, myth-making and magic.ย ย 

Through exploring alternative epistemological frameworks, her work seeks to offer cultural and embodied perspectives and practices that draw on feminist, anti-colonial, holistic and polycentric traditions. Her practice is often collaborative and is concerned with translation across languages and modes of expression.

J. HARDING

M.J. Harding is a sonic dramaturg, composer and performer. He studied Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London, and has formal musical training. He began his career as a dramatist in 2009 when he completed the Royal Court Young Writers Programme and began writing for performances in warehouses, squats and galleries across London such as LimaZulu, Topophobia and Anatumโ€™s Abode among others.ย 

Hardingโ€™s work incorporates song and the melodies of human speech with a particular focus on the role played by criminality and madness, focusing on the relationship between performance, pedagogy and violence. In addition to creating sound and music works, he holds workshops and teaches small classes that explore language, history and embodied practices.ย 

BEA XU

Bea Xu is a Chinese-British psychic worker who utilises mixed media, ritual and visionary fiction to explore speculative cosmologies beyond our current timeline. Inspired by myth, social and/or digital anthropology and the EcoGothic, they are interested in engaging (role)play in collective shadow work, informed by their studies and clinical experience at the Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education in London as a trainee integrative, transpersonal psychotherapist. Bea holds a BA in English from Oxford University and is the creatrix of ritual laboratory LUNARCHY 2.0, which is a participatory space held for magical praxis, decolonised time and non-binary thinking, deriving its name from a lunar model of societal organisation that catalysed the first-ever human (r)evolution towards symbolic culture.ย 

EMMA BANGย 

Emma Bang is an artist and daydreamer. In her practice, she works with sculptural installation, textiles and writing. She is invested in materials, the notion of touch and embodied knowledge. Recalling sensory memories, her work often reveals both interior and exterior spaces.

Emma received herย MA in Fine Art at The Royal College of Art (UK) in 2019. Before her MA, she completed a BFA in Visual Communication at The Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2014.ย 

MONIKA JANULEVIฤŒIลชTฤ–

Monika Januleviฤiลซtฤ— is a Lithuanian designer and artist. Her practice focuses on local and leftover resources, learning structures, adaptations and co-developments between self-defined and abstract communities. The drafting and prototyping of objects questions the affordability of and values between design, craft and art, all in a loop.

Curator: Tautvydas Urbelis
Coordinator: Gabrielฤ— Marija Vasiliauskaitฤ—
Graphic design: Nerijus Keblys & Mantas Rimkus (Taktika Studio)
Translation and production assistant:ย  Kristijona ฤŒerapaitฤ—
Editing and proofing: Dangฤ— Vitkienฤ— and Dovydas Laurinaitis
Special thanks: Milda Batakytฤ—
Rupertโ€™s activities are supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture

The event is part of Rupertโ€™s ongoing Public Programme โ€˜Magic and Ritualsโ€™. ย Altered States, edited by Sarah Shin and Ben Vickers and recently published by Ignota, will be available to preview or purchase on-site.

NOTE! As per the COVID-19 safety requirements in Lithuania, please wear an FFP2 mask during the event