Fertile Darkness

On Wednesday 30th October 2019 we let go of the summer sunlight and moved together into the darkness of winter. Celebrating Samhain (Sah-win) and the changing of the season, we came together to share readings and thoughts on darkness whilst eating garlic cloves. By collectively acknowledging the change to winter we hoped to prepare our souls for the journey inwards; for stillness.

We began with 60 seconds of silence and then one of the performers began to read. Each performer joined in with her readings whenever she felt like doing so. We attempted to simultaneously speak and listen to the other performers. Each performer at times, chose to remain silent. Whilst silent, if we chose, ate garlic. When everyone had finished reading, we will leave 60 seconds of silence.  Then the ritual was done.

This ritual was devised by Kate Southworth and the late Patrick Simons in 2006, and performed in collaboration with Ruth Catlow and Marc Garrett in 2006. To view the archive video of the performance please click here.

Performers Julia Kiely, Camilla Stacey, Nina Fenner, Leila Galloway, Kate Southworth welcoming the winter darkness at Kate Southworth’s solo exhibition Fertile Darkness at The Fish Factory, Cornwall, November 2019.