Artist as Shaman
Artist Workshop and Exhibition
With Professor Elfriede Dreyer
Workshop 31 January – 4 February 2022
Exhibition 5 - 19 February 2022
Venue: Unit 37, Barbecue Bend Corporate Campus, Kyalami, Midrand
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Why is shamanic practice becoming relevant again in contemporary art?
In a time of crisis, people look for solutions to transcend their current state of being. They try to find alternatives to and transcendence from what they are experiencing at that particular point in time. To some extent, covid has brought this condition on and induced a search for vision, for a path forward and for ways and means to reimagine the world.
The roles of the shaman and the artist have always been tied to vision and a position of being between two worlds: that of the visible and the invisible. The artist makes the invisible visible, and the shaman aims to transcend the visible and enter into another realm. Shamanism has roots outside of the West, in the cultures of indigenous peoples across the world, extending through Siberia, Australia, and Africa, as well as the Americas and pre-modern Europe. But shamanism itself is not a formalised system of beliefs or an ideology.
In the modern world, the artist has taken over the role of the shaman. For our purposes in this workshop, we are interested in the artist as shaman in three roles: as endowed with special sight, insight and power; as transformer; and as healer.
Keywords for this workshop: Earth consciousness | Ritualistic and meaningful objects | Rapture, transcendence | Yearning for ‘another‘ world | Transcendental experience | Healing | Transformation | Movement | Cosmogram | Bodygram | Masks | Collectivity
The workshop aims to rekindle creativity in thinking and doing, and present you with alternative ideas for your artmaking.
There will be focus on each participant’s individual art production, techniques and thought processes. Each participant will produce at least one new artwork during the workshop.
Advanced experimental thinking and creativity will be cultivated and developed. You will be encouraged to move out of your comfort zone – be prepared to become a shaman!