Ritual Paths exhibition in the Gallery Loft Acht in Vienna takes as its starting phenomenon of ritual dance, which for centuries in various traditions has been located on the borderline of disease aberration, mystical rite and cultural spectacle. Dance usedin various ceremonies performed a catalytic function, released excess energy and discharged the tension of the dancing people. Dance occurred in various traditions, as a codified set of protective gestures, but above all as a sign of metamorphosis, a liminalstate, which was framed by ceremonies, celebrations creating a sense of community and social order. For years, obsessive dance ceremonies fascinated and stimulated the imagination of not only psychiatrists and psychologists, but above all, it inspired artists,writers, directors and researchers who saw the creative potential in such of movements. The research possibilities for interpreting this phenomenon are still inexhaustible. The exhibition just symbolically refers to the dance itself, rather exposing groupceremonies in the context of everyday life and in some points as political connotations.

Presented:
Brick City Gallery, Springfield, Missouri
Art Bodensee Art Fair, Dornbirn
Loft Acht Gallery, Vienna