RAISING THE SPIRITS.

From 2nd - 5th Feb Copperdollar Studios in Kemptown played host to an installation by artist Jim Sanders. The piece Raising the Spirits was described as ‘an immersive, sensory experience, where the viewer will enter a space enclosed by veils representing the forest of the unconscious’. Spaces for the 30-minute performances were limited to seven people per showing and quickly sold out, but I was lucky to go along to be part of the experience and spoke with Jim a few days after the run had finished.

Though the piece was conceived by Jim and he created the majority of the visual aspects, including the clothing of the performers, it was very much a collaboration, with other performers and artists including dancer Kt Simpson, musician Leon Carter, filmmaker Iloobia, sound designer Abraham Moughrabi and creative technologist Benedict Sheehan. It has evolved over time from its original incarnation at The Rose Hill pub in May 2020, in the heart of the first lockdown. At that time, only four people from one household were allowed in at a time, with everyone asked to sanitise