Rituals (2023)

"Rituals are ceremonies which evoke the sacred through shared experience. Rituals can be used to reveal the ineffable aspects of ultimate reality, to reinforce a felt sense of the sacred, to mark important events and life mysteries, and for personality transformation."

Obe Vermeulen (composer) and Laura Smekens (photographer) focused in their collaboration on rituals. The concept of a ritual is an ancient tool for connecting yourself to your subconscious self. A way to be more in touch with community, nature and yourself.

For this installation, the composer and photographer created a space where the audience could walk around freely and discover the photographs. They are witnessing a ritual performed by the ensemble. The musicians have a lot of freedom in performing this installation piece. Therefore, each performance will be different.
The unique spacing at the Cabinet room in De Bijloke allowed listeners to walk around and experience different balances between the musicians in the audience, the musicians on the balcony and the live electronics.