Holy Smokes: Ritualistic cloud chasing for a better tomorrow

For one night only, Anton Benois and Malin Lin Nordström will perform a healing ritual to drive out evil spirits of the past, deal with sorrow, loss and disappointment, and let go of what once was. You are welcome to join the ritual.

Saturday 12 May 8 pm – ritual starts at 8.30 pm, please be on time.

The spirit of the magic smoke has haunted human souls and bodies since the beginning of time.

The Egyptians, the Babylonians and the Hindus offered incense to their deities, and the Native Americans smoked tobacco to communicate with the spirits. In the Temple in Jerusalem, incense was burned day and night outside the Holy of Holies. The Roman Catholic Church burned incense at each High Mass. The great Gothic cathedrals were full of highly scented smoke. Incense accompanied Columbus on his voyages. The ancient Chinese burned moxa to chase out demons and to preserve health. In ancient Greece, the inhalation of fumes was widely recommended as a healing practice and the Oracles at Delphi inhaled fumes to speak their prophecies.

In recent years, the use of electronic devices as a vessel for inhaling vapour has increased dramatically. The vaporiser is a battery-driven device that heats liquid into a vapour for inhaling.

Anton Benois (AUS/USA/RUS) and Malin Lin Nordström (SWE/TW) are Tromsø-based artists whose individual artistic practices both encompass explorations of rituals and performative culture-specific phenomena. This is their first collaborative work.