Therme Art Program
Refik Anadol x Yawanawá
From left: Refik Anadol © Efsun Erikilic, Aldeia Sagrada Yawanawá © Camilla Coutinho
REFIK ANADOL
Refik Anadol (b. 1985, Istanbul, Turkey) is a media artist, director and pioneer in the aesthetics of data and machine intelligence. His body of work locates creativity at the intersection of humans and machines. In taking the data that flows around us as the primary material and the neural network of a computerized mind as a collaborator, Anadol paints with a thinking brush, offering us radical visualizations of our digitized memories and expanding the possibilities of architecture, narrative, and the body in motion. Anadol’s site-specific AI data sculptures, live audio/visual performances, and immersive installations take many forms, while encouraging us to rethink our engagement with the physical world, its temporal and spatial dimensions, and the creative potential of machines. MYND and Therme Art are excited to be in collaboration with pioneering media artist, Refik Anadol, in presenting the work Sense of Healing, first unveiled at Aurora Institute’s Evening of Discovery, the inaugural event of one of the world’s leading annual gatherings for mental health philanthropy. This fruitful partnership has crystallised over the past year, and will continue to evolve over a long-term process towards the development of further ground-breaking and immersive experiences. Through a critical engagement with the psychological effects of contemporary urban structures, environments and systems, this ongoing project aims to create spaces of healing and regeneration. It is a partnership that endeavours to utilise transdisciplinary creative research, development and production to rethink our current approaches toward mental health, wellness and wellbeing on a global level. Harnessing the power of the latest advancements in data capturing, neuroscientific research, quantum computing and spatial development will allow us to collectively approach contemporary issues of mental wellness in new, innovative and impactful ways.
YAWANAWÁ COMMUNITY
With a population of over 1,200, the Yawanawá people live in villages nestled along the banks of the Gregório river in the Brazilian state of Acre, where they are guardians of thousands of acres of rainforest. Their history and culture are rich and diverse, with a deep connection to the natural world through their ancestral wisdom, plant medicine and environmental stewardship. The Yawanawá people’s traditional way of life is based on subsistence agriculture, hunting and fishing, and an exceptional musical culture. Their way of life and deep cultural connection to the forest has served as an inspiration for the director and cast of the Hollywood movie Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).The Yawanawá community is represented in this project by chiefs Biraci Nixiwaka Brasil, Putanny Yawanawa and Isku Kua Biraci Brasil Junior, leaders of the villages of Aldeia Sagrada and Nova Esperança.
WINDS OF YAWANAWÁ
Yawanawá and Refik Anadol, Winds of Yawanawá