On Tuesday 28th January we are launching the Art of the Second Renaissance Manifesto and Magazine. This live online event will be co-hosted by artist and Life Itself co-founder Sylvie Barbier, Peter Limberg from the STOA and Schuyler Brown futurist, facilitator, healer and writer. Participation is free and all are welcome!

We look forward to having you and celebrating a new creative dawn. 🎉 🌅🎉

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Life Itself

Launch of Art of the Second Renaissance Manifesto & Magazine: Tuesday 28th January

Next Tuesday 28th January we are launching the Art of the Second Renaissance Manifesto and Magazine. This live online event will be co-hosted by artist and Life Itself co-founder Sylvie Barbier, Peter Limberg from the STOA and Schuyler Brown futurist, facilitator, healer and writer…

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a year ago · 6 likes · Sylvie Barbier and Lauren Wigmore

This essay outlines the 10 guiding principles of Second Renaissance Art. It is a call for a transformation in how we relate to art—moving beyond the idea of art as a mere commodity to embracing it as an integral part of life itself.

We're eager to connect with those who feel, as we do, that our relationship to art is in need of a profound shift. Let’s explore together who resonates with this vision and who feels called to help bring about this transformation.

Please share this with artists and others who feel called to this revolution in the art world.

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Art of a Second Renaissance Manifesto Essay

From the cave paintings of Lascaux to today's work, human beings have been artists. Art touches an important dimension of our humanness because it touches our soul. Artworks are the historical witness of our inquiry into consciousness. This essay about the art of the Second Renaissance attempts to paint in outline the essence of this new artistic inquiry. 

Introduction

Guiding question: what is the responsibility of the artist in society - and in this particular moment of profound societal, ecological and spiritual crisis?

Throughout history, art participates in envisioning and birthing new worlds. Amid societal, ecological, and spiritual crisis, as globalized modern civilization dies, artists are called to embrace their responsibility: to help society navigate a turbulent transition – the darkness before dawn. To connect with soul, explore and communicate meaning, and heal the rift between worlds in pursuit of a Second Renaissance – this is the artists’ call.

The artist is, at once, a child at play and a priest at the threshold, from old paradigm to new. As modernity declines, post-modern refusal of truth cannot sustain cultural renewal. Through deep inquiry, artists must steward the difficult journey of healing, to propel us beyond the cult of the individual and nihilism to a truth beyond self, a truth of inter-being with our present, past and future.

‘Meaning’ the north star of humanity

What is unique to humanity is our quest and creation of meaning through art and philosophy. The act of creating is an expression and inquiry about the meaning of Life. This is what gives artists the role of being the priests at the threshold of transformation.

Because we are meaning creating beings, we swim in a world made of concepts. Concepts so strong that when we dream, the world we make through them seems real, yet dreams have no physical existence. Artists are the alchemists of the meaning world, creating new interactions, opening new interpretations that were hidden from our sight. 

E(i)nquiry, into and beyond self

To have transformative value, our own inquiry as artists must be brave and authentic, leaving no painful corner untouched or demon unregarded - while accepting that some may never be tamed: we paint with all the colors. As wisdom traditions attest, through deep self enquiry we may arrive at liberating truths. The privilege of being alchemists of meaning comes with great responsibility - particularly regarding self-enquiry. To reflect meaningfully upon human nature we must begin with ourselves so that our art can bring the essence of our inquiry into collective space, to support the inquiry of others. 

The dance of interbeing

After a reign of individualism we see its limitation, the remedy to its decadence is to combine it with interbeingness. The beauty of self-expression that individualism has given us, is enhanced by the dancing with a greater space of relationship, an expression of collective consciousness. A dance of the interdependency of self and world. This is embodied by the choice to be part of a collective. Which is in-itself a practice to go beyond the default approach of individualism and  to see oneself as also being part of a greater collective and purpose. 

The mystical creative soul

Regardless of the epoch or paradigm we inhabit, art and the sacred remain intimately connected. Always, the artist channels a source that can never be properly attributed to the individual only, like a portal the artist opens a door into a new dimension. The soul of the world? The collective unconscious? God? Life? Genius? Many cultures, many views. One eternal mystery. Infinite possibility for play and creation. 

Art, truth, faith and liberation

When we talk about truth, we don’t mean the rationalist’s logic or any dogma that should be blindly believed in without inquiry for oneself. When talking about truth, we mean an experience of human nature available to every person through their introspection and contemplation; universal and non-discriminatory; inescapable as gravity. The experience of truth is what grounds our faith in the possibility of liberation, because truth and liberation are not separate. 

In a modern materialist world, the truth is scientific, rational and measurable, a precision of the form. In the feudalistic world the truth is revealed to the chosen one. In post-modernity, refusal of truth is held as a truth in and of itself. How might a relationship with truth express itself in a wiser emerging civilisation of the second renaissance? 

Alchemy of the spiritual, religious and the political 

Modernist belief in freedom and fear of dogmatism has separated the spiritual and the political. When politics gets into the religious realm it hardens and calcifies the life from our spiritual world. Yet, we might look at this combination from a different order, where the spiritual imbues our politics, our politics become more human. We can see such examples with Gandhi, the civil rights movement of Martin Luther King and the stand of the Quaker community to end slavery.

Therefore, attention to sacredness, collective ritual and respect for inner life is essential to the flourishing collective, which is the proper end of politics. In insisting on this separation between the spiritual and the political, we have cut our politics off from our deepest sources of intuition about who we are, what we aspire for and what our body and soul needs.

Good governance requires insights about human beings, their nature, and their material and spiritual needs. These fundamentally include insights of a spiritual nature. Art is a natural bridge for the spiritual and the political, and a vehicle for softening this rigid boundary.

In a modern secular context, individualism has shaped our relationship with the sacred: my path, my realization. If spiritual life is not shared with and contextualized by something bigger than ourselves, a vital dimension of spirituality is missing; an experience of being human is possible only in communion with others. The presence of such context is what allows us to live a fulfilling life of service, which is key to how we conduct and show up in our politics.

Cultural-political context 

An art movement always appears within the social, cultural and political context of its time. Therefore, the appearance of the art of the Second Renaissance has its roots in today’s political, cultural and economic instability, along with the decline of the dominant cultural paradigm: modernity. Modern values of the world of individualism, progress, rationality, freedom and equality have served us greatly and yet this has now calcified into endless growth, materialism, techno-solutionism and an addiction to certainty and control, driving global exploitation and destruction of nature and loneliness. 

Yet at the same time postmodern refusal of absolutes has led to a denial of the true, the good or beautiful as real values - its nihilistic blindspot holding as a truth that there is no truth cannot sustain cultural renewal, as it is condemned to be directionless.

The conflict of these opposing cultural paradigms entrenched an ever-widening wisdom gap.  

Reacting to our past, we are not fully free to create anew.  A new dark age is in process, where worldviews still jostle for primacy. The artist may pick a side and join the culture war - or seek a vantage point beyond the conflict, from which to explore and nourish a vision of a Second Renaissance.

At a time between worlds, Art must examine our heritage of the traditional, modern and postmodern world. It’s ours to ask: What views and values ask to be born? Which aspects of our inheritance would we wish to carry forward, and from which do we wish to be liberated from?

The healing link between past and future

Our world is going through a deep identity crisis and this is born from our disconnection from our past. By disregarding what is our old, our past and our elderly, we cut ourselves off from the powerful ancestral line. The pain we have with our ancestors turns them into ghosts and condemns us to live a life haunted by our past, unable to find peace and create freely. Our identity will struggle to reveal and anchor itself if we do not understand that we are the manifestation of the past, present and future all at once of life. 

This illness arises from the view of seeing ourselves as individuals and not as interbeing with present, past and future. An overfocus on an atomistic self does not allow us to heal intergenerational trauma and also disconnects us from the power of the life force of the future. A greater perspective of oneself as an ancestor allows us to step into our responsibility and mature. Our resistance towards responsibility is also a symptom of a society that worships “youth” –  those free of responsibility. Without responsibility, our growth is stunted, we stay in a child-like state unable to mature into our wisdom. It is time for us to embrace responsibility and see ourselves as ancestors.

What was your face before your father was born? Are these eyes yours, or the ones of your mother’s? Is this body yours or the one of your child?

Life as an artform

As pioneer artists break-away from past perception of what is art, the art that is made is often not considered as art. The first impressionist paintings were not considered art, the same way Duchamp “Fountain” was not considered art. Yet, we now see artworks from these two epochs in established museums. Similarly art of the Second Renaissance might not be considered as art by today’s standards.

One aspect of the art of the Second Renaissance is to approach life as a medium to the art practice. Therefore, the boundaries between life and art are blurry. It invites all human beings to connect to their artistic self and to approach their life both with the same experimentation and reverence we give to artworks. 

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In July 2019 as I was pregnant with my first child I performed at an exhibition called “Is there a future” alongside art installations of conversations of women who went on birth strike because they deemed that the future was not secure enough to bring children into. As I covered myself with soil on my belly and skin, I wanted to honor the life force growing in me and that life was worth living and giving, yet naive of the immensity of the darkness ahead. Fast forward 5 months to when I participated in the first Life Itself Contemplative Activism gathering and heard first-hand the prophecy of Rupert Read of what the climate crisis would bring in terms of system collapse, which implied famine and wars.

Letting this sink in as I held my newborn child, was the entrance into a mourning for my son and for the world I knew. I had an image of a country going to war to fight for resources and sending young boys to die and seeing that often the poorest are the first to pay the price. I had given birth and it felt then so irresponsible to have done so, the message from the woman of birth-strike resonating through me.

This led me into a dark night of the soul, a depression and paralysis to create or act. As my healing and inner growth journey continues I looked into our ancestors and therefore their history to find guidance. Because if history does not exactly repeat itself, it does often rhyme. So, I started by opening my mind and looking at the past. I wanted to both be realistic and find seeds of hope at the same time because my mother gifted me the Chinese name “Wild Rose of Hope”. Finding hope and sharing it was part of my role.

In this quest I started to see a lot of similarities between what we were going through and the first renaissance. Although we remember this era as a flourishing time, it was also a very turbulent time, preceded by a very dark period and followed by a counter-reaction from the then establishment. Like the season after a beautiful abundant summer, I sensed (?) “winter is coming” - a Dark Renaissance.

Now, the wise ones are often a bridge between the past and the future, to ensure that the next generation does not throw the baby out with the bathwater, while also helping heal the wounds of the past so that we don’t transmit the trauma into the future. These are important foundations for establishing trust to achieve intergenerational transformation. Now that I am an ancestor, the deep questions I sit with are:

• What seeds do we wish to preserve in our greenhouse during the winter?

• How to build sustainable greenhouses to preserve and transmit ancient wisdom to the future generations?

• What do the next generations need to face the challenges of the world?

As I continued on this journey, I was at times overwhelmed with the sense of powerlessness to protect my child from suffering and the challenges of the world. From that, an insight came, which is that my role as a mother was not to preserve my child from suffering: suffering is a part of life as the Buddha teaches in the four noble truths.

If I did not want him to suffer I would not have given him life, so what is beyond suffering? What does suffering teach us? My role as a mother is not to try to protect my son from life itself but to give him the tools to navigate, touch, and grow as a human being and I can only do that if I do it firstly myself.

To then go further into this quest I opened my heart to female archetypes and mythologies, so that their stories, suffering and bravery could guide me in this crisis. It had always helped me to connect with the many others before me who had navigated through existence and its challenges, and to use their journeys as a compass for the vast ocean of life. That Thetis and Marie both had to mourn for their sons. That for so many generations raising and bearing a son meant that you grieve them as you raise them because they will likely have to go to war and die. That woman had often been punished for wanting to acquire knowledge and power like Eve and Lilith. That we grew up with the stories of distrust of other women and competing over one another like the story Judgement of Paris. That we learn to believe that we had to be saved and that we can only be awakened from sleep through the love of a man like Psyche. That the grief of a mother separated from its child can put the world to a stop like Demetre. That women can be warriors like Athena and Joan of Arc. That a woman's mystical power still flows from Dionysus Maenad to us.That nature has made us so we can give birth and for that Diana watches over us.

Our female body can birth life. There is something to revere in this seemingly banal mystery of giving life. We are the vessel and the nurturer of life.

So, I am pregnant with a Renaissance, to give birth again after having given birth a first time to my son. I am still choosing to give birth to life. Even with the darkness ahead, I am not naive to what is to come and yet I choose life, I choose to give life and to transmit the power of being a woman. To live fully is to find something worth giving your life to. I will give my life to life itself, I will give my body and soul  to connect to all of it and to trust the wisdom of my ancestors. I will bridge the generation by being the priestess of the dying past and the mother of the unborn futures. 

By connecting to all the women who came before me, I become a powerful ancestor myself, so may the flow of the life force continue though. 

My children make me a better human being.

Join us online on 16th Oct for the launch of our magazine

Come join us on the 16th of October for the online launch of the first edition of the Second Renaissance Art magazine on the theme of Impermanence.

Come to the launch of the first edition of the Second Renaissance Art magazine on the theme of Impermanence. This is a live online event led by performance artist, curator and Life Itself co-founder Sylvie Barbier.

Join to hear reflections from contributors including Peter Limberg of the Stoa, Valérie Duvauchelle Zen cook and author, Schuyler Brown, Jote Lamar, John Oliver and others. It is also a chance to learn more about the newly launched second renaissance art collective. Participation is free and all are welcome!

• When: Wednesday 28th January 2025, 6pm European CET / 1pm US eastern

• Where: Zoom — register here on https://lu.ma/kl4cnqus

• Cost: free

Register for event and get zoom link

This is an opportunity to discover the vision behind the Impermanence project and meet the contributors, as well as to be a part of the discussion shaping a new creative emergence. Engage with artists, philosophers and curious minds.

Early access to the magazine

You can get early access to the Impermanence magazine on the second renaissance website here:

https://secondrenaissance.net/art/impermanence

Impermanence theme

Across religions there is often the practice of sitting with the impermanent nature of life. From the five remembrance to the memento mori, these contemplation allows us to grow our wisdom and insight of inter-connectedness.

Each year we curate an exhibition and a magazine to share with the world the artistic embodiment of transformation for a Second Renaissance. Our first theme is Impermanence and an exhibition is on the theme of Impermanence and took place in Thénac France in April 2024.

Art of the Second Renaissance

We are a collective of artists making art to bring forth a second renaissance.

Art is an expression of our consciousness and humanity, from the prehistoric cave paintings to the graffiti in the streets of our towns, art has always been a gateway to transformation. Art is a catalyst for transformation.

https://secondrenaissance.net/art

• When: Thursday 26th September 2024, 7pm

• Where: Moos Space, Berlin

Register to attend on lu.ma (free)

Discover the vision behind the Art of the Second Renaissance and be part of the discussion shaping a new creative emergence. Engage with artists, philosophers, and curious minds alike as we explore how you can contribute to this dynamic new art movement.

This is a chance to get a first look at the Second Renaissance Manifesto and the launch magazine "Impermanence" — bold declarations of a future where art, politics , and spirituality converge.

All are welcome. Whether you're an artist, a think er, or simply intrigued, come be part of something transformative.

Register to attend (free)

About Sylvie Barbier

https://sylviebarbier.com

About Second Renaissance Art

We are a collective of artists making art to bring forth a second renaissance.

Art is an expression of our consciousness and humanity, from the prehistoric cave paintings to the graffiti in the streets of our towns, art has always been a gateway to transformation. Art is a catalyst for transformation.

Our first theme is Impermanence: each year we curate an exhibition and a magazine to share with the world the artistic embodiment of transformation for a Second Renaissance. Our latest exhibition is on the theme of Impermanence and took place in Thénac France in April 2024.

Second Renaissance Art Manifesto

Magazine — Impermanence

https://secondrenaissance.net/art/impermanence