Membranes-Rituals for a future religion | Waileth & Bardon, Maja Lindén

"Membranes-Rituals for a future religion" is a collaboration between the Malmö-based dance duo Waileth & Bardon and the visual artist Maja Lindén. Starting in 2023 with the exhibition "Membranes" in S:t John´s Church, they have been experimenting with new rituals and new imagery, that may one day replace patriarchal Abrahamic ones. The idea is that, as a species, we must learn to worship differently in order to negotiate the transition to a sustainable future. Maybe future humans will worship things that we now find revolting or negligible? Maybe they have learned to see holiness in mould and mycelium, in the fragility of membranes, in the fractals of cauliflowers. Instead of cutting open with sharp tools, they might have learned to wait in reverence until life opens itself up, fold by fold, leaf by leaf, to reveal the innermost light, that is so strong it hurts our eyes.

In her work, Maja Lindén´s goal is to create a synthesis of shapes, combining outside and inside, micro and macro, meat and plant, animal and human, to find the visual parts that are alike. As a university trained informative illustrator, Maja is schooled to describe facts in a scientific manner, in a number of techniques, ranging from digital animation to water colour. Her artworks are created when the thoughts of future religious practices meet her precise style.

The Dance Duo Waileth & Bardon (Elin Waileth and Emelie Bardon) have been producing dance performances, courses and choreography for different audiences in Malmö for 13 years. They have cooperated with musicians and other artists in three continents, and have a long standing practice of working with goddess metaphors as a feminist, artistic strategy. Elin Waileth Wikström is a lecturer in eurhythmics at the Malmö Academy of Music.

The project is inspired by sci-fi, fantasy and horror imagery, perhaps because of the ”What if?” element they have in common.

Visit Waileth & Bardon's webpage - wailethbardon.se

Visit Maja Lindén's artist page - www.majalinden.se