We Used to Kneel in the Dirt: An Exploration of Ritual

Curated by Diana Colón, Mingying Lu, Yuxuan Sun, Kexun Zhang

Artists: Cui Fei, Mahmoud Hamadani, Tyson Houseman, Davina Hsu, Karen Margolis, Nicholas Oh, A young Yu, Zeyu Xue

April 13 – 27, 2023

The practice of ritual is born from early human experiences of the natural world. As societies reshape themselves, rituals have been molded by various belief systems, cultural practices, and have continued to evolve, permeating into our everyday lives. Their fundamental purpose remains: to understand ourselves and our relationship with the world, and gain control over our experiences. Through a collection of video, sculpture, painting, and performance,  this exhibition explores the natural human urge to seek ritual and the way our environments shape ritualistic practices. In observing varying forms of ritual, and their representations, humanity’s search to relate to and communicate with the macrocosm of the universe is revealed.

Davina Hsu's interactive installation utilizes felted wool, guided by the introspection on emotions and connects her inner self with the outer world. In a video work that reimagines ancestral rituals through a diasporic lens, A young Yu evokes care, intimacy, and the sublime with choreographed movements. Tyson's mixed media installation draws from nehiyaw (Plains Cree) indigenous identity to establish a connection with nature through storytelling and memory. Mimicking the strokes of Chinese calligraphy via natural objects, Cui Fei's artwork series express the traditional virtues of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. Mahmoud Hamadani embraces the organic rhythms of the natural world through repetitive ink movements on paper, summoning beauty and chance. Zeyu Xue’s video work challenges society's submissive expectations through a repetitive self-experimental ritual of yelling. In her tea-serving ritual performance, she critiques spiritless modern tea parties and calls upon the spiritual power of Teaism.

Together through the eyes of eight artists, here, we ask ourselves: "We used to kneel in the dirt, what do we do now?"