Scent of Mother Antaia [Demeter]: (aromatics)
[Demeter] Queen Antaia, Goddess, mother of many names
of the immortal Gods and of the mortal men,
who once going in search much wandering in pain
interrupted the fast in the Eleusinian valleys
and you went into the Hades to the wonderful Persephoneia,
taking as guide the sacred son of Dysaules,
witness of the sacred wedding of the holy Zeus Chtonios,
Eubouleos, transforming him into a God from the mortal necessity.
But, Goddess, much prayed queen, I implore you
to come kindly to your sacred initiate.

– Eleusis Mysteries Hymn 41

Zhang Wenxin’s video project Two Passages into the Caves contains two works, HOGEN and illusion, which are both comprised of text and video. Both pieces will be presented in an offline screening and discussion at fRUITYSPACE (No. 13 Meishuguan Dongjie, Dongcheng District, Beijing) at 9:30 p.m., on Thursday, July 22.

This event will feature both parts of the video project Two Passages into the Caves, along with a mystic reading by poets. We have invited Wang Hongzhe (Assistant professor at Peking University), Zhou Zan (Poet), and Sun Yizhou (Musician) to present a reading that incorporates music and performance.

This reading was inspired by the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were a set of ancient Greek initiation ceremonies performed annually in Eleusis, a town northwest of Athens, for the cult of Demeter and Persephone. Inspired by the lonely search of the goddess Demeter for her lost daughter Persephone, the ceremonies highlighted the connections between goddess worship and an ecstatic realm.

About the Participants

Zhang Wenxin, Artist.

 

Wang Hongzhe (b. Anshan, Liaoning province), scholar of media history and associate professor at Peking University.

 

Zhou Zan is a poet, scholar, and dramaturge. She currently lives in Beijing and works at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Institute of Literature.

 

Sun Yizhou is an experimental musician based in Beijing. He has used no-input feedback, electronics, performative music or a concept since last two years, and is making more “non-music”.