Animist Reciprocities
PAF Summer School
Aug 2024
How might we live differently in an animist world, if we accepted that there are more-than-human persons brimming with agency all around us? What responsibilities would this generate, and how might we think-with beings so physically and cognitively different from ourselves? Can we find—or rediscover a lost—shared language?
This workshop will tend to the many beings, sentiences and temporalities around us, above and below the surface. We will discuss, share experiences and try to put some of this thinking into practice, taking inspiration from systems of knowledge based in yarning, story-telling, deep listening, pattern-thinking and symbol-making.
I will briefly share my practice-based PhD research on resuscitating/reinterpreting “forgotten” animist traditions in Southern Norwegian folk culture. Feel free to bring and share your own animist knowledge; songs, stories or imagery.
References and inspiration: Pauline Oliveros, Tyson Yunkaporta, Starhawk, David Abram, Marcia Bjornerud, Dylan Robinson, Voluspá, Josephine McCarthy, LARP.
