Text by CLOT Magazine
Confronting all of the changes forced upon us during a global pandemic has made it increasingly harder to prioritise mental health. If we are constantly worried about the state of the world and our collective health, it is hard to slow down.
In an effort to think critically about individual health and collective well-being during times of crisis, Somerset House Studios has launched the 2021 edition of Hyper Functional, Ultra Healthy. Using art as a tool for change, this project makes space for new ways of connecting with each other and with the planet. This initiative aims to highlight the collective’s importance in social isolation and digital interaction.
Starting on February 2nd and running until March 7th, nine free digital programmes will be available on the Somerset House website. The Hyper Functional, Ultra Healthy series offers audience members a chance to be part of a collective. The programmes include commissioned projects, films, workshops, and conversations. Viewers are offered moments of reflection and relief but are also asked to consider community-centred ways of building a healthier future.
Tabita Rezaire, an artistic-healer-seeker works across disciplines to investigate healing technologies. Hyper Functional, Ultra Healthy has commissioned her to lead a session of Kemetic yoga, a contemporary spiritual system based on the African practices of Kemet (ancient Egypt). Rezaire will use this spiritual technology to help people reconnect with themselves and with each other in a time of social disconnection.
Studio residents Laura Grace Ford and Sam Williams reflect on the relationship between the city and the body in a time of heightened isolation. Rebecca Jagoe will lead an embroidery workshop where she will explore the impact of words on the self.
Other artists participating are Timur Si-Qin, who will present a new podcast exploring how the health of the individual is fundamentally tied to that of the natural world; Shenece Oretha will immerse listeners in an experimental podcast exploring the theme of the body, and curator Nella Aarne will give a lecture about what means to live as a part of one collective body.
Hyper Functional, Ultra Healthy is supported by the Adonyeva Foundation.
