On Saturday, 25 November, at 6pm, we kindly invite you to a virtual educational session Travelling through the Ages: An Embodied Imagination Workshop. The workshop will be run by one of the artists of the JCDecaux Prize 2023: In Exchange to the Ages exhibition, Urtė Janus, in collaboration with psychotherapist Marie-Aimée de Montalembert.
Embodied Imagination is a therapy-based approach to working with dreams, memories, physical symptoms of illnesses, and creative ideas in the fields of psychotherapy, art and science. The method was developed in the late 1970s by the Dutch psychoanalyst Robert Bosnak (b. 1948) who adapted the practical principles of Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. In essence, Embodied Imagination helps to think about the environment from the perspective of the-other, using intuition and the physical senses. At the same time, it fosters the understanding that, besides rational thought, there are multiple different ways of perceiving and experiencing the structures and events around us. By practising this approach, we can look at the world not as the protagonists, but as participants in a wider ecosystem based on coexistence. Exercises in Embodied Imagination can also be useful in creative practices, as they stimulate imagination, intuitive feeling and irrational thinking, and enrich the variety of forms of expression.
PREPARING FOR THE WORKSHOP
Participants should bring a mineral object found in their environment, such as a pebble, fossil, rock or crystal. It is recommended to spend about 5-10 minutes with the chosen object before the workshop: to hold the object in one’s hands, feel it, look at its details and textures, pay attention to its smell, colour, temperature and form, remember the environment and the moment in which it was found.
The workshop will be led by Marie-Aimée de Montalembert, a student and follower of Robert Bosnak’ work, and artist Urtė Janus.
Please note that the workshop will be held online via ZOOM in English and is limited by a number of participants, so pre-registration is required. ZOOM link will be sent to the ones who register
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URTĖ JANUS is a Lithuanian artist living and working in London. Janus is currently a part of Alexander McQueen’s Sarabande Foundation residency program. She creates sculptural installations investigating the flow of time, and the interplay between human creations and the natural world. In her work, Janus employs slow chemical processes and lets the environment affect her creations.
MARIE-AIMÉE DE MONTALEMBERT, a native of France, has lived in Mexico for the last 30 years. A Jungian-oriented psychotherapist, she has also completed the Marion Woodman Foundation BodySoul Rhythms® Leadership Training Program with Jungian analyst Marion Woodman, movement specialist Mary Hamilton, and voice coach Ann Skinner. Moreover, she has been trained with Jungian analyst Robert Bosnak and Jill Fisher in R. Bosnak’s dream work method of Embodied Imagination®. Marie-Aimée uses Embodied Imagination in her practice and through movement and art to deepen the exploration of dreams and to integrate the rich and undiscovered material from the unconscious.
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The JCDecaux Award is an annual cycle of exhibitions initiated in 2016 by the Contemporary Art Centre and the JCDecaux to promote the artwork of emerging Lithuanian artists, raising its profile in Lithuania and abroad, and expanding the public interest in contemporary art. Each year, the project’s curators receive applications through an open call, evaluate them and select participants to receive financial and institutional support for the creation and presentation of new artworks. The one-off award of €4,000, granted by the JCDecaux, is awarded by an international jury to one participating artist or collective based on the originality, relevance and artistic expression of their artwork. The public are also encouraged to express their preference. The artist most appreciated by the public will be given the opportunity to present their project within the JCDecaux OOH network of public advertising spaces.
The exhibition runs until 3 December 2023 at the National Gallery of Art (Konstitucijos pr. 22, Vilnius). Opening hours of the National Gallery of Art: Tuesday & Wednesday 11am–7pm, Thursday 12–8pm, Friday & Saturday 11am–7pm, Sunday 11am–5pm.