September 13 & 14, 2022 / 19:00 – 22:00 /
The Art Academy – Møllendalsveien 61, Bergen / with Brandon LaBelle, Negar Tahsili, and Nasser Taghvaei
For our upcoming Pirate gathering we focus on the topic of Animism, considering the animistic in relation to artistic practice. In what ways does Animism support modes of artistic work and the creative engagement with materiality it often entails? While contemporary artistic research tends towards the production of knowledge, as inscribed within a logic of scientific analysis, are there forms of magic equally at work? Can we speak of a certain “practice of the auratic” or “material magnetism” when approaching the critical engagements art often deploys?
Such questions and perspectives will be considered, as well as amplified and storied within this session of the Pirate Academy. Through presentations, shared discussions, screenings and group explorations, we’ll talk through and share in the vibrant currents underpinning being together, following these into reflections on artistic creation.
Tuesday, September 13 / 19:00 – 22:00: starting with introductory thoughts and perspectives by Brandon LaBelle on the topic of Animism – such thoughts require a certain energetic approach, a magical theory, a radical sympathy, which will lead to a series of reflections and referencing: from the emergence of occult practices throughout Modernism, and the spiritism found in material-technical culture that still shapes machinic life, to the affective politics informing how it is we may relate to the vitality of things – to swim in the energetic tides of creative doing – we’ll map out Animism as what informs artistic practice as well as new planetary cultures //// including the gathering of things and stories, memories and the small rituals through which we participate in the configurations of time and space.
Wednesday, September 14 / 19:00 – 22:00: Continuing our engagement with the animistic, guest artist Negar Tahsili will share perspectives from her own work, especially attuning us to the demons and rituals found in “Zār” originating from the cultures of the Horn of Africa //// Zār travelled with African slaves who came to the regions of the Middle East – the word Zār in Persian means sorrow and crying/mourning. In southern Iran, Zār is interpreted as a “harmful wind” assumed to possess individuals, mostly women, and to cause discomfort or illness. However, ceremonies can be performed by shamans to persuade a spirit to leave, thus releasing the person from their duties to that spirit //// Negar will offer some perspectives on the rituals of Zār, including a special screening of the film Jinn wind (1969) by Iranian filmmaker Nasser Taghvaei – leading us to a deeper appreciation for the ways in which the body is possessed by others.
