Voudon: Art, Uprising & Gnosis
2pm-7pm, Saturday, 5th July, 2014 (1:30pm for a 2pm start)
The October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester St, London WC1N3AL
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Presenters/performers include:
David Beth
The Gnostic Science of Esoteric Voudon: Cosmos, Deity and Gnosis in the Work of a Voudon Secret Society
In this presentation David Beth, offers a rare glimpse into the Metaphysics and Modus Operandi of an initiatic Voudon Secret Society. Unique teachings on the soul, the esoteric dimensions of the cosmos and its primordial deities, form a powerful and complex system of Voudon; providing its adepts with the keys to attain magical powers, creative freedom and Gnostic liberation. Elaborating on these, and other central themes, the speaker takes us through some of the most hidden realms of Inner Voudon.
David Beth is an internationally respected spiritual and esoteric teacher. Born to German parents in Angola, Africa he has been initiated into several lineages of Afro-centric Gnosis, as well as Western forms of Esotericism. Amongst other accolades, David Beth is the founder of La Société Voudon Gnostique, a selective group of initiates and artists dedicated to manifesting the more powerful, inner revelations and transmissions of the Gods of Esoteric Voudon. SVG aims to push evolution and research of Voudon freely beyond all frontiers of orthodoxy. David has authored a range of authoritative books and essays on Voudon and related topics. He has recently established the esoteric publishing house: Theion Publishing. University educated in Germany and the USA, David has travelled and lived all over the world from Nigeria to Hamburg and Los Angeles to London, studying and teaching spiritual and esoteric systems for over two decades. David currently lives and works between Europe and Jets to Brazil
John Cussans
Voudon and the Haitian Revolution
John Cussans discusses the role of Vodou in anti-colonial struggles in Saint-Domingue/Haiti such as the famous Bwa Kayiman ceremony that inaugurated the Haitian Revolution and in resistance struggles against the USA occupation from 1915 to 1934. Attention is paid to the particular loa associated with these struggles and the colonial authority's responses to them.
John Cussans is an artist, writer and independent researcher whose current work examines misrepresentations of Haitian Vodou in popular culture, its association with moral panics within the mass media and its role in anti-colonial struggles. In 2009 and 2011 John participated in the Ghetto Biennale in Port-au-Prince and continues to work with the Ti Moun Rezistans artists’ community there. He is currently a visiting research fellow in the Visual Cultures Department of Goldsmiths College.
Leah Gordon
Vodou and Art: a Border Culture
Leah Gordon explores the multifarious links between Vodou and art in both Haiti's rich art history and contemporary practice. Leah will discuss the use of image and artifact within Vodou ritual and the often-interchangeable role of artist and Houngan (Vodou priest). To conclude Gordon will explore the liminal space that contemporary artists currently inhabit whilst trying to negotiate their ancestral histories and cultural antecedents within a contemporary art market, which still has a conflicted relationship toward ethnographic and ritual objects
Leah Gordon is an artist, curator and writer who explores the boundaries between post-colonialism, religion, folk history and art. Her practice investigates the ruptures between Haiti and Britain's intervolved histories and cosmologies. Leah's work has been exhibited internationally including in the National Portrait Gallery, UK, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney and the Dakar Biennale. Leah Gordon co-curated 'Kafou: Haiti, History & Vodou’ at the Nottingham Contemporary, was the adjunct curator for the Haitian Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale and was on the curatorial team of 'In Extremis: Death & Life in 21st Century Haitian Art' at the Fowler Museum, Los Angeles and the Musee de la Civilisation, in Quebec City.
Gabriel Toso
Drapo Vodou: Sacred Flags of Haiti
In this lecture Gabriel Toso presents his research on Vodou flags or Drapó Vodou, an essential element and integral part of Vodou ceremonies. Traditionally made of sequins or beads in the oum’phor (temple) by the houn’gan (priest), they are intrinsically connected with the lwa they represent and are therefore considered powerful magical tools. The Drapó incorporates African elements, Catholic imagery and Masonic symbols becoming a reflection of the unique syncretic nature of Vodou itself. The lecture focuses on the flags’ forgotten African origins, their key ritualistic use and multifaceted iconography. Due to their visual appeal and the strong interest from Museums and art collectors on both sides of the Atlantic, Gabriel also explores their inevitable transformation from sacred objects to art objects.
Gabriel Toso is an art historian born in Venice by Italian-French parents. He now lives in London where he works in the art market and he is collaborating with the Learning, Volunteers and Audiences department at the British Museum. Having traveled in Haiti, he has developed a strong passion for Haitian culture and a keen interest in Vodou and ‘Vodou sacred art’. He is currently researching the place and role of the LGBT community in the Vodou religion.
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