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The five of us - David, Natasha, Tallula, Tilly and myself - met multiple times in the lead up to the public matrix on the 12th. Once in person at the studio, a couple of times online, and, finally, over lunch (injera and wat made by Elsie from Jabulani) on the day itself, when we did a final run through at the gallery.
We decided, as we had at the North Woods matrix, to split the session into two parts: Dream-telling and Dream-reflecting. Natasha and Tallula would lead the Dream-telling, taking on vocal and instructional roles. This built on the previous work by Natasha and Sarah, developing an embodied, sensory approach to getting to know the Dream-telling environment. Coupled with Tallula’s somatic practice, this felt like a generative space where Tallula and Natasha could feed off each other. I recall the term ‘layered ritual’ being used to describe this method - something that would build gradually, one layer above the other. Rather than moving from task to task, we wanted each instruction or prompt to deepen participants’ engagement with the space. During the session, the dynamic between Tallula and Natasha felt natural and responsive rather than tightly planned, and I appreciated the way they supported and responded to each other.
Tilly, David and I led the Dream-reflecting - making notes about the dreams we heard, digesting and reflecting on what surfaced. This didn’t mean we were passive during the Dream-telling, and we used props to make visible our relationship with the space. Tilly was the scroll bearer, carrying the 1m x 10m roll of paper used to write down dreams and associations with dreams, unfurling it when invited by Tallula or Natasha. David held the clipboards, keeping an eye out for newcomers into the space, welcoming them, orienting them, and handing out an information sheet for them to read. I carried the zoom recorder, becoming a roving mic of sorts, picking up the sounds close to me, recording the dream-tellings from around me. The tools we held helped to really shape and tune our movements in the space - for example, because I had the recording time visible on my Zoom recorder, I also took on the role of time-keeper and bell-ringer.
Natasha and Tilly also prepared a script for the session. This helped ensure we covered all essential points and knew who was doing what and when. It was a complex choreography between the 5 of us, so a document or score to help orchestrate this felt essential. While we relied quite heavily on the script this time, the idea is that, over time, it can eventually be set aside. It can also be passed on and adapted by future facilitators, informed by Sarah’s original use of the document.
There is still a question about whether both the information sheet and the verbal introduction are needed - something to discuss moving forward, to help streamline the beginning and leave enough time for the Dream-telling itself.
We opted to hold the Dream-telling outside, in the garden of the Thelma Hulbert Gallery. I don’t think we had anticipated how loud and sunny it would be. There were questions afterwards about whether the outdoor setting took us away from the Dream-telling space more than it drew us in, and whether a quieter, darker or more familiar environment was needed for dreams to surface. Another point to discuss also.
In terms of the dreams shared on the day, this was the first time that people spoke so directly about their dreams for the world, in a very tangible way. Dreams from the ‘real’ space of our world and its context today, rather than from an ‘asleep’ state. Some participants shared dreams of the world that they wished for, while others spoke about the gap between the world that they wished for and the one that exists. There was some hesitancy from participants who shared these types of dreams, wondering if they had misunderstood the exercise. In many ways, this form of engagement reflected a yearning for a dreaming practice that could help support us in the reality of the present. Perhaps it was also informed by the conversation between Ashish and Joy Sleeman that took place earlier in the day, on the relationship between the local and the planetary. During the Dream-reflection, I spoke to the destructive and creative capacity of dreams - the idea that they can be creative spaces to make and build new worlds, but in doing so, they also dismantle the forces that stick us or keep us bound. They are a way out from the ties of reality through a reckoning with what forces need to go, and a space to imagine what scaffoldings those power structures could be replaced with.
Sadly, I’ll be away from the next 3 sessions so please accept my apologies in advance. I can already see that Ashish has unearthed some books around the theme of imagination from his library in the studio, following discussions between him and Natasha on this topic! I look forward to hearing about what unfolds in the reflections that emerge here.
Warmly,
Iman