Spirit and Place focuses on the theme 'nourish' for this year's annual event

The Spirit and Place festival kicks off Thursday. The 10-day event will bring together more than 100 cultural organizations to present a wide variety of performances, discussions and displays centered around the theme “nourish”. WFYI’s Jill Sheridan talked to Spirit and Place Program Director Erin Kelley about what to expect at the 28th annual event.

Sheridan: So for someone that's never been to Spirit and Place, can you please give us an overview – what is the festival all about?

Kelley: So the festival is unlike anything in the nation. We are really that unique. First off, we're a multi-day festival of events, which means there's no single location. So events happen all over the city, different times of the week, different times of the day, different venues.

This year's festival is November 2 through 12. Twenty-five events, and all of the events will explore the theme of “nourish”. But here's what really makes us unique. The events are independently created by the community. So Spirit and Place is a radical experiment in community trust, where we trust artists and museums and libraries and houses of worship – and just folks out in the community – to create really dynamic and amazing events around our theme. And all of the events will be rooted in either the arts, humanities or religion.

Sheridan: So talk a little bit about the theme “nourish” – that's interesting. What are people going to be able to experience out of a theme like that? What can we expect?

Kelley: Well, every year, the Spirit and Place festival is different, because we try to pick themes that will resonate widely with the community and that allow for multiple forms of interpretation. So this year's festival, for example, 25 events, you can attend a theater performance, hosted by Sapphire Theatre company, that deals with how to find nourishing words for those suffering through loss and grief. On the other side of that, there's a family-friendly event that's being organized by Ivy Tech and the Garfield Park Art Center called Buzz and Flutter, which is all about celebrating our pollinators in the world and the role they play in nourishing our food supply. And that's an art-making, hands-on event for families.

There's film in the event, there are lectures in the event, there are meditative events that are rooted in silence and the nourishing effects of silence. So there's all kinds of wonderful stuff going on.

Sheridan: I know that the festival, as well, really helps people understand how we're shaped by the place that we're at – Central Indiana – and how those places and those stories can become a part of us. Is that kind of the point?

Kelley: It is, it is definitely. I mean, we're Spirit and Place, right. And place is very important to us. And there are festival partners that are exploring that. IUPUI’s Museum Studies Program has a workshop that they're doing called Cultural Compost. And that's all about places here locally in the city that suffer from environmental damage and toxic harm. And it's about collecting stories of people that are impacted by that, so that communities are better equipped to fight for the justice that they need in their local neighborhoods.

Sheridan: Can you talk about anything that's exciting, new and that you're looking forward to this year?

Kelley: Sure. So there are a couple of events in the festival this year that are rooted in silence. Every spring I recruit people in the community and try to get them to apply to be a part of the festival. And I have in my head where I think people are going to take this nourish theme. I anticipated a lot of food events. I did not anticipate two separate groups really wanting to explore the idea of quiet, and silence, and how that is something that is important in terms of nourishing our sense of self and our just our overall wellbeing.

So that's one of the things I love about Spirit and Place is that even I, as the program director,  am surprised every year by how the community, and how our community event partners interpret the theme. And sometimes they just come up with some really crazy, wacky stuff too, which is always great.

There's an event in the festival called how to eat with tuning forks, where it's going to be – bring your lunch. There's going to be microphones set up. There's going to be some live music. But it's all about creating an avant garde soundscape with the sounds of people eating and talking and using kitchen utensils and appliances to make music together.

Sheridan: Thank you so much, Erin, for joining us.

Kelley: Thank you.

Contact WFYI city government and policy reporter Jill Sheridan at jsheridan@wfyi.org.