FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INAUGURAL WELLBEING SUMMIT FOR SOCIAL CHANGE HIGHLIGHTS THE INTEGRAL ROLE OF ART IN DEVELOPING A NEW LANGUAGE FOR WELLBEING AND SOCIAL CHANGE

BILBAO – BISCAY, SPAIN (May 11, 2022) – The Wellbeing Project presents its inaugural Wellbeing Summit for Social Change from 1st to 3rd June 2022: a global event bringing together social change, governmental, arts and business leaders working at the intersection of individual and collective wellbeing. 

The three-day summit will consist of ground-breaking talks, conversations and panel discussions highlighting the connections between individual, organisational and societal wellbeing. Speakers will discuss the notion of how a deeply embedded culture of wellbeing can alter and inform our approach to driving positive systemic change.

The Wellbeing Summit chose the location of Bilbao, Biscay because it is an international hub for art and culture. It is a place in the process of deepening its transformation by focusing on a Charter of Values that centres on improving the wellbeing of its citizens and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The arts play an integral role in the development of a new language for inner wellbeing and can provide a greater understanding and expression of the human experience. During the summit, visitors will encounter different artistic experiences through a selection of exhibits, artworks and a vibrant performing arts program. Involving more than 85 artists at 10 venues, the event offers participants and residents of Bilbao the opportunity to take an interactive journey exploring what social change becomes with inner wellbeing at its heart. 

“The arts have a unique power to express ideas and emotions in new ways, to create experiences that have a profound impact on our lives, and to help us make sense of the world around us. The Arts Program at the Summit invites us all to embark on a creative journey together; a journey that I hope will activate our whole selves and continue to resonate in our hearts and minds long after the event ends.” – Manuel Bagorro, Arts Curator, The Wellbeing Summit for Social Change

Inspiring and creative Immersive Talks and Workshops will pair artists and speakers to examine wide-ranging topics that include neuroscience; intergenerational trauma; spirituality and rituals; diversity, equity, and inclusion; economics; business; climate; and technology. 

The summit’s Artist Track program has commissioned 12 international artists to create a major new work exploring the idea of inner wellbeing, either for themselves, the community, or the world. Through the Artist Track, the Wellbeing Summit offers creative residencies in Bilbao-Biscay to support the creation of risk-taking new work that challenges assumptions and builds community. Vicente Todoli, Artistic Director of Pirelli HangarBicocca, has acted as advisor on the selection of artists. 

Highlights include, Indian artist, Nikhil Chopra who will stage a 24-hour durational solo performance, placing his body at the centre of the artwork; while as part of her installation Himali Singh Soin collaborates with drummer, composer, and performance artist David Soin Tappeser to offer daily rituals that include a gong bath, readings and communal tea.

Artist and architect, Yazmany Arboleda creates a site-specific installation, Hospital for the Soul in the centre of Casilda Iturrizar Park. For 11 days, visitors will be able to see the reflection of Magnolia Tree #5, the Biscay Sky, themselves, and anyone else present in a specially created room. The temporary mirrored interior, created in response to the generational trauma caused by the Spanish Civil War, invites participants to reflect on our place on earth.  

Bilbao-based artist, June Crespo has produced 3 new works related to her concrete sculpture series Core. Sculpted with materials such as fabric, concrete, fiberglass, plaster, and wax, her works are designed to be used by the public as a playground, a place to rest and contemplate, or a place to ‘dance’ with the pieces that act as a reminder of the interplay in our lives between what is absolute and grounded with the ephemeral and elusive.

Across the three-day summit, performances and community workshops will be offered by groups including the Harlem-based Bishop Chantel Wright and Songs of Solomon Gospel Choir and Silkroad Ensemble.

Artist Daan Roosegarde will debut SPARK Bilbao, a poetic performance of thousands of biodegradable light sparks which will organically float through the air, offering an innovative solution for sustainable community celebrations.

Other highlights include the Rubin Museum of Art’s Mandala Lab an interactive space that uses artists’ creativity and Buddhist principles to help visitors imagine how to transform disruptive emotions such as anger, jealousy, and pride.  Located in Parque de Doña Casilda de Iturrizar, the Mandala Lab features a pulsating light sculpture to encourage synchronized breathing, scent stimuli and videos to help unpack memories, and eight musician-curated gongs that the visitor can strike and dip into water. 

Notes to Editors

For further information, please contact: 

Nina Sandhaus
Evangeline MacSwiney
Scott & Co
nina@scott-andco.com, evangeline@scott-andco.com

The Wellbeing Project

The Wellbeing Project is a global initiative focused on catalysing a culture of inner wellbeing for all changemakers and structured in four pillars – model programs; research and evaluation; learning, convening, and enabling; and storytelling and connecting. The organisation is inspired by love, care, and compassion for all the people who work to build a better world, as well as to support the many causes and movements for which we all work. The Wellbeing Project is co-created with Ashoka, Georgetown University, Impact Hub, Porticus, the Skoll Foundation, and the Synergos Institute. wellbeing-project.org. 

Partners include: – BBVA; Bizkaia – Government of Biscay; City of Bilbao; Latham & Watkins; Azkuna Zentroa; Canadian Embassy of Madrid; Community Arts Network; Draiflessen Collection; Guggenheim Bilbao; MIT Media Labs; Museo De Bellas Artes de Bilbao; Thyssen Bornemisza Art Contemporary; The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Global; The Rubin Museum of Art; Science Gallery; and Ursula Hauser. 

Speakers include: – Rajni Bakshi, Briggs Bomba, Kate Byrne, Laura Calderon de la Barca, Aneel Chima, Gary Cohen, Dr. Richard J. Davidson, Suparna Diwakar, Peggy Dulany, Mallika Dutt, David Germano, Sennay Ghebreab, PhD, Jay Coen Gilbert, Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Ramsés Gómez, Edgard Gouveia Jr, Vanessa Haigh, Zarlasht Halaimzai, Reggie Hubbard, Nadine Kaslow, PhD, ABPP, Dr. Barry Kerzin, Dr. Julia Kim, Dr. Sará King, Satish Kumar, Juan Mari Aburto, Wanja Muguongo, Deepa Narayan, Wellington Nogueira, Clara Oyuela, Cristiane Ferraz Prade, Aaron Pereira, Father Timothy Radcliffe, Imam Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi, Rabbi David Rosen, Sharon Rosen, Zainab Salbi, Carolin Schmee, Jessamyn Shams-Lau, Laureline Simon, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, Justin Michael Williams, Sandrine Woitrin

Artists and Arts Projects include: – Grimanesa Amoros, Yazmany Arboleda, Loreto Aramendi, Miroslaw Balka, BBVA Art Collection, Birdheart, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Kenyatta Emmanuel, Brooklyn Rider, Janet Cardiff, Nikhil Chopra, June Crespo, Alicia Framis, Carlos Garaicoa, Aaron Huey, Eva Lee, Madalitso Band, Hope Masike, Emeline Michel, Mohau Modisakeng, Aakash Odedra, David Strathairn, Joshua Roman, Daan Roosegaarde, The Rubin Museum – Mandala Lab, Sonja Schenkel, Falu Shah and Karyshma, Himali Singh Soin, Daniel Steegmann Mangrane, Science Gallery Bengaluru, Shirley Tse, Silkroad, Ursula Hauser Collection, Jazmine Williams, Gerald Wirth, Bishop Chantel Wright and Songs of Solomon, Vocalia Taldea, Thomas Cabaniss, Josu Elberdin, Zirkozaurre.

The participants of this event will attend largely by invitation to ensure a diverse, representative, and pluralistic community of attendees. This will be the first of two global summits The Wellbeing Project will convene with the second to be announced for 2024. 

Following the in-person summit, there will be virtual elements available to the public hosted by Parker J. Palmer, Author, Educator and Activist; Founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage and Renewal (USA) and Sharon Salzberg, NY Times Bestselling Author and Meditation Teacher (USA). 

Sonja Schenkel’s work for The Wellbeing Summit for Social Change is called “The Chrysalis Force Field.” The Chrysalis meditation pods invite guests to build a contemplative force field near the conference center. Five people at once can meditate in a circle; separate but together. The intention is to increase support and positive mindsets that are being shared at The Wellbeing Summit and beyond.

Location: Euskalduna
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Visits available upon pre-registration only.
Date: May 31 – June 3

“The force field is a reference to the constellation work, so vital for the wellbeing project. May it be of benefit for everyone and everything.” – Sonja Schenkel

The force field consists of 5 meditation pods that are hung from a structure within a tent. Each pod weighs about 5kg and sits on a round carpet. Materials used are reopened after the Summit. The carpets may be given as a present to people chosen by the Wellbeing Project. All components are handmade, fully sustainable, using natural dyes. Illumination at night is done with small solar lights.

Hidden in a separate, round tent vis-a-vis the conference center, the Chrysalis force field offer a place of silence amidst the rumble of talks and networking.

ESPAÑOL

El trabajo de Sonja Schenkel para la Cumbre The Wellbeing para el Cambio Social se llama “El campo de fuerza Chrysalis”. Las cápsulas de meditación Chrysalis invitan a los invitados a construir un campo de fuerza contemplativo cerca del centro de conferencias. Cinco personas a la vez pueden meditar en círculo; separadas pero juntas. La intención es aumentar el apoyo y la mentalidad positiva que se comparte en The Wellbeing Summit y más allá.

“El campo de fuerza es una referencia al trabajo de la constelación, tan vital para el proyecto de bienestar. Que sea beneficioso para todos y para todo”. – Sonja Schenkel

El campo de fuerza consta de 5 módulos de meditación que se cuelgan de una estructura dentro de una carpa. Cada módulo pesa unos 5 kg y se asienta sobre una alfombra redonda. Los materiales utilizados se vuelven a abrir después de la Cumbre. Las alfombras se pueden regalar a las personas elegidas por The Wellbeing Project. Todos los componentes están hechos a mano, son totalmente sostenibles y utilizan tintes naturales. La iluminación nocturna se realiza con pequeñas luces solares.

Escondidas en una carpa redonda separada del centro de conferencias, el campo de fuerza Chrysalis ofrece un lugar de silencio en medio del estruendo de las charlas y el trabajo en red.

Mohau Modisakeng’s work for The Wellbeing Summit for Social Change takes the form of a multi-channel video installation composed of individual screens each depicting a water drumming sequence performed in unison by half-submerged bodies standing in a body of water.

Location: Euskalduna
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Visits available upon pre-registration only.
Date: May 31 – June 3

A group of men and women (individually framed by the screens) perform the drumming routine with their cupped hands and fists, which produce different sounds when they strike the surface of the water. These actions, all performed in unison, create a chorus of sounds characterised by the splashing and dripping of water which is reminiscent of the sonic landscape of the ocean and its crushing waves.

The work will also involve a live choreographed dance performance revolving around large galvanised baths filled to the brim with water.

HEALING & THE DRUM

The project explores the correlation between the drum (song, and chant or Ingoma in isiZulu), the ocean, and ancestral memory in the African context. The work conflates the metaphor of drumming as a means of communicating across time, space, and dimensions, with the metaphor of the ocean as a place of prophecy and healing, and a repository of ancestral memory.

As a percussion Instrument, the drum has historically been used in the African context as a means of communication; a type of sonic telegram used to send messages back and for the between far-off neighbouring communities. The drum is also an instrument of ritual practice in the African context. It is played at various cultural and spiritual gatherings often marking moments of divination, mourning, healing, and celebration in a community.

The ocean has been witness to the mass displacement/passage of people moving between continents for many centuries. Some voyages taken for exploration or colonial enterprise, some for escape from persecution, some seeking refuge, and for many others the ocean represents the threshold between home and exile, freedom and bondage.

For the black Atlantic, the ocean simultaneously represents a place of trauma. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade alone is responsible for the mass-displacement of millions of lives which were uprooted and lost in-transit to the new world. For people of African heritage, the ocean also represents a place of ancestral memory and healing. In the African context baptisms, Sangoma initiations, and other cleansings rituals are regularly performed at the ocean where various spirits are thought to reside.

THE WATER DRUMMER conflates the metaphor of drumming as a means to communicate across space and time, and the ocean as the drum or a type of portal into the realm of ancestral memory and spirits as mediated by the sea and its currents.

ESPAÑOL

La obra de Mohau Modisakeng para The Wellbeing Summit for Social Change adopta la forma de una instalación de vídeo multicanal compuesta por pantallas individuales, cada una de las cuales representa una secuencia de tambores de agua ejecutada al unísono por cuerpos medio sumergidos en agua.

Un grupo de hombres y mujeres (enmarcados individualmente por las pantallas) ejecutan la rutina del tambor con sus manos y puños ahuecados, que producen diferentes sonidos al golpear la superficie del agua. Estas acciones, realizadas al unísono, crean un coro de sonidos caracterizado por el chapoteo y el goteo del agua que recuerda el paisaje sonoro del océano y sus olas aplastantes.

La obra también incluirá un espectáculo de danza coreografiada en vivo que girará en torno a grandes bañeras galvanizadas llenas de agua hasta el borde.

SANACIÓN Y EL TAMBOR

El proyecto explora la correlación entre el tambor (canción y canto o Ingoma en isiZulu), el océano y la memoria ancestral en el contexto africano. La obra combina la metáfora del tambor como medio de comunicación a través del tiempo, el espacio y las dimensiones, con la metáfora del océano como lugar de profecía y curación, y depósito de la memoria ancestral.

Como instrumento de percusión, el tambor se ha utilizado históricamente en el contexto africano como medio de comunicación; una especie de telegrama sonoro utilizado para enviar mensajes de ida y vuelta entre comunidades vecinas lejanas. El tambor es también un instrumento de práctica ritual en el contexto africano. Se toca en diversas reuniones culturales y espirituales, a menudo marcando momentos de adivinación, luto, curación y celebración en una comunidad.

El océano ha sido testigo del desplazamiento/pasaje masivo de personas entre continentes durante muchos siglos. En algunos casos, los viajes se han realizado para explorar o realizar empresas coloniales, en otros para escapar de la persecución, en otros para buscar refugio, y para muchos otros el océano representa el umbral entre el hogar y el exilio, la libertad y la esclavitud.

Para los negros del Atlántico, el océano representa simultáneamente un lugar de trauma. Sólo la trata transatlántica de esclavos es responsable del desplazamiento masivo de millones de vidas que se desarraigaron y perdieron en su tránsito hacia el nuevo mundo. Para las personas de herencia africana, el océano también representa un lugar de memoria ancestral y de curación. En el contexto africano, los bautismos, las iniciaciones Sangoma y otros rituales de limpieza se realizan regularmente en el océano, donde se cree que residen diversos espíritus.

THE WATER DRUMMER combina la metáfora del tambor como medio de comunicación a través del espacio y el tiempo, y el océano como tambor o una especie de portal hacia el reino de la memoria ancestral y los espíritus mediados por el mar y sus corrientes.

  • NIKHIL CHOPRA'S WHAT4S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT
  • NIKHIL CHOPRA'S WHATS LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT
  • NIKHIL CHOPRA'S WHATS LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT

Nikhil Chopra’s participation in the Summit involves a residency period and a 2-day long performance, during which the artist will engage in both everyday actions, and the creation of a monumental drawing and atmospheric mise en scene.

Location: Aldama Fabre
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Date: June 2 – 3
Time: 10am – 10am CET. 24 hour performance

On the second day, the performance will incorporate Bilbao’s citizens and Summit attendees around a celebration of community and art. The paintings, drawings and other objects created along these actions are a residual component of the performance. Bending gender, shape and identity, India’s best known performance artist uses personal history to question nationhood and existentialism.

Born in Kolkata and based in Goa, Nikhil Chopra’s art focuses on performance. The body becomes a tool and canvas for art. He is best known for durational performances in which he takes on the persona of different characters, inspired by personal familial history and national, regional and colonial histories.

Nikhil Chopra has performed and exhibited his art before a global audience since the mid 2000s. His art has featured in gallery and institutional shows, art fairs, and other major art events worldwide. In the live performance “Lands, Waters, and Skies” (2019), the artist worked in the galleries of The Metropolitan Museum of Art for nine consecutive days, adopting various personae and critically engaging with the museum’s collection and its organizational principles.

ESPAÑOL

La participación de Nikhil Chopra en la Cumbre implica un periodo de residencia y una actuación de dos días de duración, durante la cual el artista realizará tanto acciones cotidianas como la creación de un dibujo monumental y una puesta en escena atmosférica.

En el segundo día, la presentación incorporará a los ciudadanos de Bilbao y a los asistentes a la Cumbre en torno a una celebración de la comunidad y el arte.Las pinturas, dibujos y otros objetos creados a lo largo de estas acciones son un componente residual de la actuación. Doblando el género, la forma y la identidad, el artista de performance más conocido de la India utiliza la historia personal para cuestionar la nación y el existencialismo.

Nacido en Calcuta y establecido en Goa, el arte de Nikhil Chopra se centra en la representación. El cuerpo se convierte en una herramienta y un lienzo para el arte. Es conocido por sus actuaciones de larga duración en las que adopta la personalidad de distintos personajes, inspirados en su historia familiar y en la nacional, regional y colonial.

Nikhil Chopra ha actuado y expuesto su arte ante un público mundial desde mediados de la década de 2000. Su arte ha aparecido en galerías y exposiciones institucionales, ferias de arte y otros importantes eventos artísticos en todo el mundo. En la obra en vivo “Lands, Waters, and Skies” (2019), el artista trabajó en las galerías del Museo Metropolitano de Arte durante nueve días consecutivos, adoptando varios personajes y comprometiéndose críticamente con la colección del museo y sus principios organizativos.

  • HIMALI SINGH SOIN – ANCESTORS OF THE BLUE MOON
  • HIMALI SINGH SOIN – ANCESTORS OF THE BLUE MOON
  • HIMALI SINGH SOIN – ANCESTORS OF THE BLUE MOON

Himali Singh Soin’s work for the Wellbeing Summit has three parts – a pocketbook of flash fiction dispatches; an atmospheric space in which a visitor is invited to contemplate and journey; a multi-sensory performance experience.

Location: Azkuna Zentroa – Bastida
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Date: May 31 – June 3
General Opening: May 31st, June 1rst and June 2nd: 4pm – 8pm

June 3rd: 10am – 12pm

Performance Times: May 31st: 7.15pm –  7.45pm

June 2nd: 6.45pm – 7.15pm

Ancestors of the blue moon draws on research into Himali’s namesake, the Himalayas, and its animistic rituals and remedies, mystical geometries, old-new materialisms and spirit realisms. These flash fictions are from the perspective of remote or forgotten deities. Deities protected by rites of secrecy or left out of archives. Deities invisible and formless. Deities incarnated as ruined objects, dangerous aspects or shadowy energies. They flow through our contemporary timescape, recounting the world they witness. The 13 dispatches that form the pocketbook signify the Tibetan Buddhist conception of the layers of the astral world and the years it takes to transform linear time into mythical time.

At the Wellbeing Summit, Himali will introduce another deity from the Basque Country, Mairu, the supernatural spirit of thresholds. Individual dispatches have been reimagined by Himali to form a series of curtains that invite the visitor to journey through the space and join the artist along with drummer, composer and performance artist David Soin Tappeser for a daily ritual that includes a gong bath, readings and communal tea.

ESPAÑOL

La obra de Himali Singh Soin para The Wellbeing Summit consta de tres partes: un libro de bolsillo de relatos de ficción; un espacio atmosférico en el que se invita al visitante a contemplar y viajar; y una experiencia de actuación multisensorial.

Ancestors of the blue moon se basa en la investigación sobre su homónimo, el Himalaya, y sus rituales y remedios animistas, geometrías místicas, materialismos antiguos y nuevos y realismos espirituales. Estas ficciones instantáneas son desde la perspectiva de deidades remotas u olvidadas. Deidades protegidas por ritos de secreto o dejadas fuera de los archivos. Deidades invisibles y sin forma. Deidades encarnadas como objetos en ruinas, aspectos peligrosos o energías sombrías. Fluyen por nuestro paisaje temporal contemporáneo, relatando el mundo del que son testigos. Los 13 despachos que forman el libro de bolsillo significan la concepción budista tibetana de las capas del mundo astral y los años que se necesitan para transformar el tiempo lineal en tiempo mítico.

En The Wellbeing Summit, Himali presentará otra deidad del País Vasco, Mairu, el espíritu sobrenatural de los umbrales. Los despachos individuales han sido reimaginados por Himali para formar una serie de cortinas que invitan al visitante a viajar a través del espacio y unirse al artista junto con el baterista, compositor y artista de performance David Soin Tappeser para un ritual diario que incluye un baño de gong, lecturas y té comunitario.

  • Carlos Garaicoa’s silk-screened installation
  • Carlos Garaicoa’s silk-screened installation
  • Carlos Garaicoa’s silk-screened installation
  • CARLOS GARAICOA’S SILK-SCREENED INSTALLATION
  • CARLOS GARAICOA’S SILK-SCREENED INSTALLATION

Carlos Garaicoa’s installation for the Wellbeing Summit for Social Change Soñamos en la superficie rayada de un cristal- will be created using multiple traffic poles with rear-view car mirrors and traffic safety security mirrors.

Location: Ercilla pedestrian St 35
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Date: May 31 – June 6

They will be silk-screened with messages and some of them broken. The image of the city and the viewers will be reproduced and fragmented by these mirrors, composing a new view and encouraging engagement with an alternate reality.

Born in Cuba and based in Madrid, Carlos Garaicoa is best known for his references to architecture, real and imaginary, as his work often alludes to re-inventions of cities. The crumbling architecture of Havana unleashed his desire for utopian projects with architectural solutions. Carlos Garaicoa has exhibited extensively around the world, and his works have been included in major international and group exhibitions such as the Gwangju Biennale (Korea), the Venice Biennale and the Biennale of Sao Paulo, as well as Documenta XI and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Los Angeles. His work is part of various international public collections including Tate Modern (London) and the Museum of Modern Art (New York).

ESPAÑOL

La instalación de Carlos Garaicoa para Wellbeing Summit for Social Change “Soñamos en la superficie rayada de un cristal” se creará utilizando múltiples postes de tráfico con espejos retrovisores y espejos de seguridad.

Serán serigrafiados con mensajes y algunos de ellos rotos. La imagen de la ciudad y de los espectadores serán reproducidos y fragmentados por estos espejos, componiendo una nueva visión y fomentando el compromiso con una realidad alternativa.

Nacido en Cuba y establecido en Madrid, Carlos Garaicoa es mejor conocido por sus referencias a la arquitectura, real e imaginaria, puesto a que su obra a menudo alude a la reinvención de las ciudades. La arquitectura en ruinas de La Habana desencadenó su deseo de realizar proyectos utópicos con soluciones arquitectónicas. Garaicoa ha expuesto sus obras en todo el mundo, siendo incluidas en importantes exposiciones internacionales y colectivas como la Bienal de Gwangju (Corea), la Bienal de Venecia y la Bienal de Sao Paulo; así como en la Documenta XI y el Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Los Ángeles. Su obra forma parte de varias colecciones públicas internacionales, incluyendo la Tate Modern (Londres) y el Museo de Arte Moderno (Nueva York).