Image credit: diana lindhardt / The I of Sisters Academy
To reflect on Gry Worre Hallberg’s involvement in our Seeding Art Currency project, we must begin with a quote from Joseph Campbell:
“You can tell what’s informing a society by what the tallest building is. When you approach a medieval town, the cathedral is the tallest thing in the place. When you approach an eighteenth-centre town, it is a political palace that’s the tallest thing in the place. And when you approach a modern city, the tallest places are the office buildings, the centre of economic life.” (The Power of Myth with Bill Moyer, 1988).
Gry established the Copenhagen-based performance group and movement, Sisters Hope with her poetic twin sister, Anna Lawaetz in 2007 in response to this concept; art is the only system which is yet to inform society. Through immersive research and development, the poetic twins are exploring and unfolding their vision for a sensuous society – a world where art and the aesthetic is valued above all else.
Gry said: “The aesthetic has been under-prioritised. We are interested in exploring a potential future world, one where art and the aesthetic is dominant. This goes back to when I was child; I’ve always felt the value of creating and that of the aesthetic.”
The group is conducting their research through the large-scale Nordic project, Sisters Academy, which embodies sensuous society performances in educational settings. Having established their own sensuous learning performance method, Sisters Hope invite participants to call on their inner potential – their poetic-self – and to document their experiences of doing so.
Gry said, “The poetic self is not a character but the secret inner life which is within all of us. It is not something we can explore in everyday life, our surroundings don’t support it. So through our poetic self exercise, we firstly encourage people to identify, then externalise and give that poetic self an image and then step three is learning to relate to others.”
With Sisters Academy, the movement is opening up sensuous learning through two concepts.
The Boarding School – Sisters Hope establish immersive boarding schools in art galleries and organisations for 24 hours, installing bunk beds and leading classes. Anybody can enrol, but those who do must manifest their poetic self for the duration of the performance.
The Takeover – Carried out in real secondary schools. This is a large-scale performance for the duration of two weeks, but which requires months of preparation. During the takeover, Sisters Hope does just that, the head teacher leaves the school and the performance takes over. The teachers are trained to manifest and for those entire two weeks, the school operates within the sensuous performance method.
Each participant documents their experience within a dedicated notebook that in turn becomes part of the Sisters’ wider archive of research.
What happens when people manifest?
“A deep longing is often opened up within people when they manifest. They begin to experience the value of being present in the world; a world that is more innovative and empathetic. It is as though you were previously walking through life with an arm cut off and you just didn’t notice. Manifesting makes you realise what you were missing and you feel home.
But, how do those who have experienced this go back into their everyday lives?
“We have an anchoring technique called an ‘exist ritual’ which happens at the end of each exercise and performance. You don’t leave you poetic self behind; it follows you. At any given time, its shape can be evoked. This is why we make the poetic self exercise available publicly.
“There are still many unanswered questions. The sensuous society is not utopian. There is no monetary system. The performances are an opportunity to explore this and experiment. What is life like when it is based around the sensuous and the poetic?”
What’s next for Sisters Hope?
To date, the Sisters have concentrated their work in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Norway and Greenland, due to the progressive nature of the education system in these countries. They are now exploring how they can broaden their research into a wider network of countries.
“What we are exploring is fulfilling a global need. Although it is anchored in Europe, it is relevant globally. We are beginning to explore how we can work towards larger manifestations in the UK. This is what brought us to the Art Hostel. I met Janine following a presentation I delivered in Liverpool, and she invited me here seeing the connection between our work and Seeding Art Currency.
“We are concentrating on education in the first instance, but this is starting point. We would love to takeover a prison, hospital or hotel – all areas and institutions in society. Schools are a great place to start as in this part of the world, everyone passes through the education system. When you change and debate in this setting, you impact on the lives and experiences of many.
“We have people from all walks of life coming to take part in our boarding schools. It is not always those who are already engaged with art. We’ve had some strong reactions and you can never predict who will react in which way. There is often a fear of the unknown and some people who do not respond well to the sensuous world. On the whole, we’ve seen deep and valuable experiences.”
Reflecting on Seeding a Sensuous Society, Janine Sykes said:
“Gry Worre Hallberg brought, for a transient moment, an alternative vision of society; a sensuous society. This idea was shared at the most recent event of Seeding Art Currency and can only be likened to a hurricane or some other awesome phenomena.
“Firstly, Gry outlined the two forms in which Sisters Hope manifest their ongoing missionary-like projects; The Boarding School and the Takeover. Both give ‘the enrolled’ a sensory learning experience which brings a strong senses of hope for the future which is set out in Gry’s book, Sisters Academy – Education for the Future.
After the talk there was a film, along with a ‘taster’ activity, where we laid down and visualised our poetic selves. Through performance, Gry and her staff at Sisters Hope, manifest their poetic self in characterisations such as ‘sister’ and ‘gardener’ and by doing so, illustrate part of the human condition which is largely suppressed – the aesthetic self.
“Gry’s commitment to sharing this vision of an alternative sensuous society is admirable, and certainly touched and energised those who were present at the Art Hostel on 31st October. After this ‘taster’ we are left with a hunger for Sisters Hope to return to Leeds, next time in full manifestation.”
Gry sees her work exploring the sensuous as a precursor to a more sustainable society. How does the sensuous support the path towards a more sustainable future? All of this work is forming part of Gry’s PhD, which she will complete in 2020. To find out more about Gry and the work of Sisters Hope, go to: sistershope.dk
Did you come along to Seeding a Sensuous Society at the Art Hostel last month? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.