frequently asked questions
Is ceremonied art an art form or an organization?
Both. The art form is ceremonied art, and the organization is called Ceremonied Art.
Where does the word "ceremonied" come from?
Maybe surprisingly, although the adjective "ceremonied" sounds like a common English word, it did not exist in any dictionary or appear anywhere online until artist/writer Tilke Elkins coined the term in September, 2023. The verb "to ceremony" was in use until 1635, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Tilke reactivates "to ceremony" and redefines it to mean "to engage ceremony to bring into, or enact within networks of relational kinship & care, between humans & beings of all kinds."
Is ceremonied art religious?
No. Ceremonied art is art that orients according to the worldview that all life, from the tiniest molecule to the largest cosmic body, is family, or kin to humans, has agency and is capable of communication with humans. This is known as a "kincentric worldview," and can be compared to the "humancentric worldview", which does not consider all elements of life to be family, have agency, or be capable of communication. A worldview is different from a religious belief.
How can the building of new ceremonies honor existing traditional kincentric ceremonial practices?
The kincentric world-sense is defined by a respect and honoring of all life as literal family, a position which is confirmed through continual intuitive connection with other beings. This defining trait is universally shared by those with kincentric values.
This does not mean that all groups with kincentric values are alike in other ways: in fact, all are different, in ways specific to the places they inhabit, or where their particular cultural practices were developed. Hopi, Diné, Maasai, Tuareg, Bundjalung, Māori, Tibetan, Zhuang, Saami, Nunavik, Ohlone and Tlingit traditional cultural frameworks all have kincentric values, but have very different practices. These practices are expressions of dialog with the beings that make up their ancestral lands. They are records of generations of accumulated exchanges and teachings between people and their places which have resulted in complex cultural patterns that support not just survival but the flourishing of intricate beauty and harmony between beings.
To extract elements of these cultures and use them without being part of the webs of relationships that brought those elements into existence is to sever the cultural elements from their living networks -- to cut the veins of life that flow between the practices and the people and beings who are connected through the practices.
To engage a living practice -- like a song, a visual pattern, a medicine, or a specific ritual -- in a context that is separated from or unrelated to the beings that enact and maintain the life of that practice is to damage the practice for whomever encounters it next. Passing on a severed practice means passing on a compromised practice, naked of its web of connective relationships. One way to avoid misusing cultural elements and passing on damaged practices is to ask: am I deeply and directly connected to this practice through a network of specific, intimate relationships, both human and inter-being? If not, then engaging this practice or element for personal or public may be an act of disrespect and even violence.
Such is not the case when the practice has been expressly given for use by non-community members through community-wide agreements, where the community sharing the practice has a desire to be connected to the new participants in some way, and even benefits from the exchange.
What is intuitive communication and how is it part of ceremonied art?
Intuitive communication is also known as "telepathy." It's the transfer of messages between beings through inner knowing, without spoken, written or recorded language of any kind, often transmitted and received instantly regardless of distance between individuals. Intuitive communication can take place between beings of all kinds, from the molecular to the cosmic.
Humancentric cultures have suppressed the practice of intuitive communication – between humans, and between humans and plants, animals, rocks, stars, ancestors and other "inter-beings" – for thousands of years. Means of suppression have included mass brutality and violence and the assertion that believing that inter-being communication is possible is an active sign of mental illness.
Intuitive communication functions best between individuals who experience closeness and love. Where love, or a sense of kinship is absent, intuitive communication is much less likely to occur. Where intuitive communication is absent, feelings of kinship are less likely to arise.
Honing the collective human intuitive capacity through ceremonied art could, therefore, could serve to dramatically increase humanity's ability to connect with, listen to, and collaborate with other beings.
Does all ceremonied art involve intuitive communication/telepathy?
No, not necessarily. Ceremonied art is defined by the use of ceremony to affirm kinship with all life. This can, but does not have to include intuitive messaging between beings.
Who decides what is, and isn't ceremonied art?
Like any word, the word "ceremonied" can be used correctly or incorrectly. Artists claiming to work in ceremonied ways may or may not actually be doing so -- but that is up to each person to discern independently. Any one can make art that is ceremonied -- many people, all over the world, are and have always been making work that could be called "ceremonied."
Can art of any kind be ceremonied art? What about things other than art?
Ceremonied art is art of any form: objects (painting, sculpture), dance, music, film, multimedia, interdisciplinary, etc. Non-art practices — like farming, birth, healing, or other things — can also be ceremonied.
How can I participate in Ceremonied Art, the organization?
Please get in touch if:
you're an artist making ceremonied artwork and you'd like to connect with an audience through this organization
you're an artist, art supporter or art participant, and you'd like to fund, experience, or learn more about how to engage ceremonied art
Write to us at: connect@ceremonied.org
