JOURNEY

transformative

JOURNEY

TRANSFORMATIVE

The strenght to be vulnerable – ritual

2024, performative ritual co-created with Remco Wendt, handdyed cotton, wool and silk & performance.

In the strength to be vulnerable we researched opposites in relation to your intention and ambitions. Inspired by the energy of the warrior. As Anat Geiger, by far my favorite yoga teacher says; the warrior fights for the benefit of all. Or it asks true openness from the heart to stand for what you want. And even the strength to be vulnerable is from her, she states that only if you’re strong enough you can allow to be vulnerable.

 

To create the ritual, I delved into various religious traditions surrounding the spring equinox, finding sources in nature religions, Greek myths, as well as in Christianity regarding sacrifice, resurrection, and the consumption of bread. After initially connecting with all the participants outside, a systemic constellation was set up in the church surrounding the welcoming of ‘the new’ into life. You walked in a spiral towards the center, where you were invited to vulnerability, openness, protection, and determination, all qualities necessary to welcome ‘the new’. In the center, you received bread and the opportunity to add something to it that resonated with how these qualities are present for you. As you slowly kneaded the additions into your bread, you spiraled back out into the world.

 

It lasted 2.5 hours, everyone was committed and strongly present. This energetic field sustained itself. Moreover, the image of people moving alongside each other in their own storylines within a larger whole towards the center and back again was amazingly coherent. A spiral, an expanding universe. Most of participants watched the whole celebration.

 

To me the ritual is a way to involve all the senses together to create a deeper, more profound bedding for our own intentions. The deeper our intentions can reside in us, the better we are able to manifest them in the world around us.

 

 

 

Photograhpy: Elke Smit

I am deeply grateful for the group of artists I had the opportunity to work with and that co-created with me: Remco Wendt, Roberta Petzoldt, Sander Nelissen, Nina van Hartskamp, Zippora Martoesowando, Sander Ivo van Driel, Beaudiene de Kruiff.