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Lawrence and Ushindi at BLINK
“On my altar is a song,” exclaimed Ushindi. “Would you like me to sing it?”
With eyes and smile bright, Ushindi Aksante sang an African Christian Hymn to those of us who had gathered at The Well for the first meeting of a very special collaboration called Illuminate: An Immersive Journey Through Shadow and Light, first brought to The Well in June, 2024 as an idea by Experience Designer Kori Martodam.
Cincinnati-based Martodam, a nurse anesthesiologist by day and dancer, writer and actor in her free time, recently graduated from Odyssey Works’ year-long Certificate Program. Odyssey Works is an organization that has been pioneering the practices of transformative experience design since 2001 and is best known for creating enormous, personalized performances designed to guide individuals through profound journeys.
After a few conversations with The Well staff and support from BLINK, the nation’s largest biennial public light and art event, a plan was developed to celebrate three individuals over 24 hours, each nominated by Cincinnati arts organizations’ that would be participating in the four-day BLINK festival. The experience would be entirely designed for the participants, or Journeyers, by three lead Artist Fellows and supported by a cast of supporters.
Besides knowing they would begin and end their journeys at The Well at noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday over BLINK’s October weekend, the Journeyers knew nothing more than they would need to pack an overnight bag.
Preparation
Ushindi, like the others who had gathered at the first meeting of Journeyers and Artist Fellows, had been prompted to imagine they were beginning a journey, to visualize the path and on the path an altar which would hold items needed for the expedition. On Christian Drye’s (artist name See Drye) altar was a black leather bible, journal and writing instrument. Lawrence Daya’s imagined altar contained a bowl of water, a beaded bracelet his grandfather gave him and a dried pink flower that had been gifted to him by a drag queen at his first Pride parade.
Ushindi, nominated by A Pictures Worth, arrived in Covington, Kentucky in 2022 with her family thanks to the Kentucky Refugee Ministry. They had spent 17 years in a Ugandan refugee camp after leaving the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006. Ushindi was eight years old and had already lived through the Second Congo War, directly on the heels of the Rwandan Civil War and Genocide.
Lawrence arrived in Cincinnati a year ago from Canton after a tough life moment and to work as a Physical Therapist where he met nominator Alandes Powell, Executive Director of Black Art Speaks. Lawrence was eager to meet more people and connect to his artist spirit. Christian was born in Cincinnati and came to Illuminate through a joint nomination by Black Art Speaks and ROMAC. He was seeking a deeper connection to Jesus, his art work, and to find space to rest and reflect.
The Journey
Artist Fellows Kateri Sparrow, SLiNK Love and Elan Schwartz, with support from Kori Martadom and Stacy Sims, interviewed each journeyer and the team began to imagine the journey: 24 hours over BLINK weekend, including an overnight stay at the Cincinnati Art House, a short term rental property filled with Cincinnati-are artists work, owned by Sims.
From Cal Cullen’s commissioned, bespoke shoes to SLiNK Love’s custom garments, Kateri Sparrow’s themed ceramic altars, beads and earth cakes to Elan Schwartz’s artwork for each Journeyer, to chef Kristen St. Clair’s morning feast with a mindful tasting experience, the Cincinnati art community leaned in to support the Journeyers. The Well’s Bryce Kessler and Patrick Raneses created soundscapes for the opening and closing ceremonies, Julia Orquera Bianco and Amy Tuttle offered art and sound. Kateri also held a sound bath in the gorgeous sanctuary at Camp Washington’s United Church of Christ and also composed a special song for Ushindi sung by a chorus of BLINK goers and volunteers at the Purple People Bridge to cap off a celebration by A Pictures Worth’s installation of photos and stories of refugees and immigrants.
At the end of the journey, See Drye reflected “It’s a great opportunity for breakthrough and rest, sometimes the breakthrough is the rest.” Kateri observed “healing and nourishing the collective starts with the individual” while SLiNK Love observed that this kind of experimentation and play “is not just our path to collective freedom or to sustainable homeostasis - it is the very essence of life.”
The first meeting of the journeyers and the artist fellows at The Well.
The opening ceremony.
Lawrence, Ushindi, Kori and See Drye visit the Black Lives Matter mural to see See Drye's work.
Ushindi and friends at Welcome Project.
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Our programs have been nourishing the community since 2005. In 2019, we became the non-profit, A Mindful Moment.
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