Interpreting Rituals: The Butterfly Effect

The New York Art Residency & Studios (NARS) Foundation presents an exploration into sacredness in contemporary society. This exhibition is a part of the "Locating the Sacred Festival."

The New York Art Residency & Studios (NARS) Foundation in Sunset Park, Brooklyn presents Interpreting Rituals: The Butterfly Effect, an exploration into sacredness in contemporary society. The two-week exhibition considers the quiet reverberations caused by translating the sacred against the backdrop of today’s global uncertainly and societal flux. By re-articulating collective memory and spiritual practices through the creative process, each showcased artist is able to subtly yet inevitably unveil the hope of mutual understanding intertwined with a basic human need to emotionally connect and respond to one’s surroundings.

Ranging from film screenings to ceramics, photography and print making, each work asks the viewer to reflect on the conceptual and experiential pluralism of sacredness. Guests will be invited into an interactive yet introspective space to reflect on spiritual vitality as it vibrates across cultures, time and generations.

On Saturday, September 15th from 1-6pm, spend the afternoon at NARS. Starting at 1pm, enjoy interactive tea servings and drinks from a set of exhibited ceramic vessels. At 1.30pm, we will offer an artist led clay workshop for children and families. Experience a mediation session at 3pm; we will present an Artist Talk followed by a reception at 4pm. NARS will also host one of Eric Gamalinda’s “QRoems” as a destination along the route of his interactive multi-venue project, Deep Splendor: The Way of the Bodhisattva.

Exhibiting artists include Veronica Frenning, Lily & Honglei, Gautam Kansara, Ming Yuen-Schat, Yasuyo Tanaka and Eric K. Yue.

Exhibition Opening on Saturday, September 15, 2012, 1-6pm

Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday: 1-5pm or by appointment

Two years in the making, the Locating the Sacred Festival, a project of the Asian American Arts Alliance, has brought together hundreds of artists, arts workers and cultural activists to create twenty-five events in churches, museums, cultural centers, botanical gardens and theaters across all five boroughs of New York City, exploring the meaning of the word “sacred” and its relevance in their communities.

From an inflatable Buddha on the East River to a flash mob in Washington Square Park, the festival showcases Asian American artists as agents of change, demonstrating the power of art to unleash imagination and break down barriers. Festival Producing Partners include New York University, the Rubin Museum of Art, Queens Botanical Gardens, Poetry Society of America, Church Center for the United Nations and several others. In the wake of the shootings at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and as the eleventh anniversary of 9/11 approaches, New Yorkers are reminded that opportunities for greater cultural understanding are never more important. The Asian American community is the fastest growing cultural group in New York, now 13% of the population (one million people), with heritages spanning the Middle East to the Pacific Islands. The festival aims to provide a platform for all New Yorkers to engage deeply with each other on questions of fundamental values and to be inspired to imagine moving towards together as a society.