“Trembling ground”

"Bad energy. Good energy. We are wondering about dowsing, a practice to locate groundwater ultimately mapping fire and water energetical points.

The practice usually uses a dowsing rod where a dowser connects to fragile trembling vibrations from the ground. In Baltics, dowsing holds a status of a beloved pseudo-science that is connected to pagan knowledge. It is a common practice to invite a dowsing practitioner before building a house or deciding to demolish it. In this residency, taking on Valga/Valka as exploration grounds, we aim to explore the energetic undertones through somatic movement, embodied reconnection, and human and material interaction.
How does speculative building practice in the Baltic region build up on new spiritual energy cleansing myths and what kinds of ghosts are they trying to catch? How is the state of magical thinking connected to times of uncertainty, and how materials can be released from the heavy burden of “heavy energies” without us fleeing away?”

𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟐𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝟒𝐩𝐦
𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩
“𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬”
Diāna Mikāne and Paula Veidenbauma will lead a public workshop on dowsing rituals and tools. Together, participants will craft dowsing rods and pendulums before mapping the VARES house and garden.

𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟔𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐭 𝟕𝐩𝐦
𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
“𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝”
The ground trembles. VARES space transforms into a metaphysical landscape. The territory embodies a state of magical thinking, resonating deeply with times of uncertainty. A performance emerges from mapping energy points and underground waters through dowsing practices around the borderlands of Valga and Valka. During their residency, an artistic duo ‘gel’ aims to explore energetic undertones and cleanse/inhibit the water-powered crossroads through rites and tools of dowsing, embodied reconnection, and somatic movement.

𝐃𝐢𝐚̄𝐧𝐚 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐚̄𝐧𝐞 is an artistic researcher, currently working between Riga (LV) and Nida (LT). Interested in interdisciplinary approaches and merging artistic and academic practices, Diana is transitioning between various art-related roles, ranging from exhibition production to field and theoretical research, creative writing, and art criticism.

𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐚 𝐕𝐞𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐛𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐚 is an urbanist, sometimes a performer, sometimes a writer. Living and working between Riga (LV), Tallinn (EE) and Vienna (AT). Interested in the overlap between Baltic State’s transition into a market economy and the following private-public segregation, she explores the spatial turn towards a neoliberal condition where her own body is a material for explorative praxis.

Together, they form the artistic research collective 𝐠𝐞𝐥, whose research inquiries gravitate around nuances of everyday aestheti