Southerly Meditation Workshop
Performative Workshop (26:11). Aug 2024 

Performance: Garam

Music: Coulou's Cafe trumpet meditation (no.16) by Coulou

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The Southerly Meditation Workshop is a carefully designed project that guides participants through a dual experience of focused and guided meditation, using the natural setting of Primrose Hill as a reflective space. This project was developed to explore the relationship between humans and the natural world, with a specific focus on the emotions of anxiety and relief. Primrose Hill, with its expansive views and quiet surroundings, served as the perfect environment for participants to contemplate these contrasting emotions. The workshop starts with focused meditation, helping individuals draw their wandering consciousness back into their bodies, centring their awareness. As the session progresses, the guided meditation encourages participants to expand their consciousness beyond their bodies, allowing them to reflect on the natural elements around them.

 

The workshop is grounded in existential philosophy, particularly the idea that anxiety is not something to be feared or overcome, but rather an inherent part of the human experience that can be embraced. Through the meditative practice, participants are invited to see anxiety not as a burden, but as a companion that moves through life with them. This process of reflecting on nature’s infinite qualities, while becoming aware of our own finite existence, brings a deeper understanding of how anxiety and relief can coexist.

 

The goal of the Southerly Meditation Workshop is to help participants reconnect with themselves and the world around them. It encourages a mindful engagement with nature, promoting a peaceful coexistence with the emotions that often accompany the human experience. Participants leave with a renewed sense of awareness, having explored the idea that life’s burdens, like anxiety, are not something to be avoided, but rather something to live alongside with acceptance and understanding.

 

This project was part of the outdoor exhibition Park(ing), curated by Zhu Mengqi and Qiming. This exhibition focused on transforming public spaces into platforms for artistic expression, and the Southerly was a fitting contribution, using the natural environment as both a setting and a subject.