Looking for ways to resist the insanity? As well as our artistic activity, we can choose to stop tacitly supporting the monopolistic, data-stealing, profit-driven tech corporations and oligarchs that are facilitating the deluge of misinformation, conspiracy theories and AI slop that is designed to make us feel overwhelmed and helpless! Here are some simple steps that you can take today.
I'm not very good at letting go. My natural instinct is to hoard, to hold on to objects that hold memories and to keep odd or broken things in case one day they might be useful. But this last year has been all about letting go and, slowly, I am getting better at it.
Measures to slow the spread of Covid19 have impacted enormously on the arts: theatres, museums and galleries are closed, workshops and training classes stopped, festivals postponed or cancelled. Magdalenas around the world are feeling the impact financially and creatively, and like many others are turning to the internet to maintain at least virtual connections. Welcome to my world!
I recently had the privilege of attending the third Tantidhatri Festival(link is external), a Magdalena festival held in different locations in India since 2012. This time, from 15 to 20 January 2019, Tantidhatri was held at Rabindra Tirtha(link is external) – an arts centre dedicated to the poet and philosopher Ranbindranath Tagore.
It’s the middle of March and the middle of the Magdalena München Saison(link is external): six weeks behind us, six weeks ahead. Time to pause and take a breath, look back at what’s happened and gather our energies for the next stretch!
We are now one week into the Magdalena München Saison 2018, and already a lot has happened! The February artists have arrived in Munich and settled into the Villa Waldberta in Feldafing, and their performances, workshops and projects are underway.
Every Magdalena festival has its own unique character, determined by the people organising it and its location. The Tantidhatri festival(link is external), held first in 2012 in Pondicherry and Auroville, and this year in Bengaluru, is no exception; it floats in a magical bubble of scents, colours and joy that is gently cradled by each of the many smiling volunteers.
In late September, Magdalenas gathered in the balmy south of France for Magdalena Montpellier, a festival organised by Marion Coutarel in association with La Bulle Bleue(link is external). The festival marked the culmination of Marion's three-year residency at this arts organisation for people with disabilities. It was a great location and the people of La Bulle Bleue were very present throughout the week.
