Free | Rituals in Rituals of the Future ②：Cow Bell (Restart)

HOST：

Shanghai Himalayas Museum

TIME：

2021.8.21

15:00 - 17:00 / 18:00 - 20:00

CHAO Jiaxing (Independent Curator), GAO Jie (Artist), SONG Tao (Artist), YU Ji (Artist), ZHAO Zhiliang (Artist)

Sister HUI (Charity), SUN Yun (Musician), TANG Ying (Novelist), YiYi（Doctor），ZHANG Nian (Philosopher), ZHANG Zheng (NYU Professor of Computer Science, Director of Amazon Web Services Shanghai AI Lab)

Free

15 audience only

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Due to prevention and control, andiences should wear masks, check the application code and measure temperature.

What is a "joining ceremony"? Whether in the narrow sense of shamanic tradition or in the pan-shamanic context, there are usually several possibilities to become a shaman: appointed by God, psychic under certain circumstances or considered to have psychic ability (perhaps showing symptoms similar to hysteria), hereditary or becoming an apprentice to a shaman, while the latter two of which require the guidance of a qualified shaman who would teach shaman skills. Those who meet these conditions cannot be regarded as shamans. They also need to be truly recognized by the gods at a certain moment, that is, “The Calling", in order to gain the ability to communicate with the gods, and even obtain auxiliary gods. Spontaneous situation may happen in the near-death experience of a serious illness, and the inheritor may need to be guided by the master, with the help of theory or even medicine, to let the soul leave the body in the symptoms of illness. The spiritual experience of becoming a shaman from a quasi-shaman is usually called "joining style".

What is interesting is that in a wide range of regions (pan-shaman concepts including Africa, Siberia, America, Oceania), in the long history of mankind, shaman culture has absorbed many elements of different psychic cultures, and has also influenced many different cultures. In the different shaman joining styles, it can be found that they strictly follow some classic themes: the quasi-shaman must be sick, and let the evil deity (saargi) chop his body, pull away his soul, and take away his organs. We are also very familiar with this story. Nezha, who appears in many ceremonies, seems to represent a classic shaman "joining style" in his legend.

The curator and the three artists as organizers are: Chao Jiaxing (curator), Gao Jié (curator, artist), Song Tao(artist), Yu Ji (artist),and Zhao Zhiliang (artist). In this project Rituals in the Rituals of Future ②: Cow Bell, they will practice the spiritual experience that has been repeatedly narrated in a wide range of folk around the world. and the guide of the ritual will wearring metal plates and cow bells. How did the shaman gain knowledge of the disease through the shredded and taken body, what kind of communication or exchange did the shaman have with the god of disease, and gained the ability to cure the disease? Today, when the epidemic suddenly strikes, our human culture seems to show symptoms that are more than just physical. Each of us needs the ability to fight, or coexist with disease.

One of the organizers, Yu Ji, prepared a "wet-removing soup" in the Chinese pharmacy. The ritual will invite three disabled volunteers to make soups with her and share them with friends who would participate in the ceremony.

We will invite artists, philosophers, shaman, novelists, scientists, and charity activists to prepare a "joining ceremony" for you: Rituals in the Rituals of Future ②: Cow Bell , Nearly 20 disabled people will participate as volunteers. The ritual will last two hours and be held at Shanghai Himalayas Museum on August 21st ,2021.

The issue revealed by Ongoing curatorial project “Rituals in the Rituals of Future” is：we lack a scene of rituals that is in accordance with the narration of the “myth" today. It is a scene that can give an account of life and death, history, wonders, sacrifices, the sun and alcohol, the future, as well as the rituals of "beauty". “Science” is merely one of the myths; knowledge-power; futures, stock market, real estate, and broad currency are collectively another set of myths; environment; bodybuilding; racism and nationalism; internet economics; big data too are all myths of today.

The mission of the artists is to become “assistants” and help each participant to represent their thoughts over this question in artistic languages, displayed in the exhibition and interact with each other, and all these will generate the rituals of ceremony that relates to us. In the context of the "myths" of today, one is to find a scene of sacrificial rites that belongs to this time, place, and audience.

“Rituals in the Rituals of Future” which is a collective creation heavily depends on various researches. It develops each time when the inter-disciplinary collaborators and the environment change. The first Round of it was a ceremony within the exhibition “Re-sculpt” of Thomas Hirschhorn（2018）

Shanghai Himalayas Museum

Shanghai Yizhi Culture Communication Co., Ltd.

yuz museum

am art space

Tall Brothers

Bolstra Foundation

Auspac

The organizers and participating artists are conducting a rehearsal