World 91, Enactment iii: report

This Enactment was based on the

World 91, Exploration i recipe

Mixed group of students walking mainly two abreast up a path to the woods, which will be the setting for all images.

Student with mobile phone, taking a close-up of moss on a tree trunk.

Student in dense woodland, mobile phone held aloft in two hands, angled upwards into trees.

Student sitting in the sun on a large rock on a grassy slope, writing in a notebook on his knee.

Student standing close to a tree, her right hand, fingers spread, on the mossy trunk.

Student standing by a thin tree at the bottom of steps, writing in his notebook.

Students in the woods, each intent on their own tasks, phones in hand.

This Enactment explored World 91, in which people present themselves to the mushrooms that are widely understood as spiritual guides.

It was organised by Eliana Sánchez-Aldana and Juliana Cárdenas Vásquez in the Faculty of Architecture and Design at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. The participants were third-year undergraduate BA Design students (see full credits).

The text guiding this Enactment:

Once a week in World 91, people undertake a quiet ritual: they present themselves to the mushrooms that are widely understood as spiritual guides.

For most, this practice involves a fleeting visit to a wooded area to enable a few minutes’ connection with either visible fungi or the hidden mycelial network, and reflection on cycles of decay and regeneration.

As a sign of respect in this nature-centric culture, people take great care over what they wear for the mushroom visits. Aesthetics vary, some adopt celebratory flamboyant styles, while others opt for a more subtle approach.

The mushrooms see it all.

Eliana and Juliana adapted World 91 to their local surroundings in a small local forest. The University of Los Andes is in one of the mountains of Los Andes’ chain. Muiscas, indigenous people from this area, used to say this mountain is sacred.

Students were invited to go on a ‘date with nature’ as a personal reflexive activity. The students selected a ‘being’ or aspect of nature – tree, flower, river, the sky – to spend time with and reflected on the experience through writing, drawing, audio recording or photography.

Through their reflections students noted how hard it was for them to spend time in nature but also how, through doing so, they felt more connected to nature in a variety of different ways.

In this case study video, Eliana reflects on the process of adapting World 91 to the Colombian context:

A date with nature: Eliana Sánchez-Aldana shares a Stage 3 enactment at Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

Student sitting at the foot of a tree in the woods, writing in her notebook.

Thick, moss-covered tree trunk, two hands and a shoulder all that is visible of the person hugging it from behind.

Student taking a close-up of dense leaves on a bush.

Student climbing an old gnarled tree, seemingly unhindered by her ankle-length full skirt, another student standing by.

Close-up of a hand holding onto a thin twig with lacy leaves eaten by insects.

Want to try this out for yourself?

View the Enactment recipe

This Enactment was devised by Juliana Cárdenas Vásquez and Eliana Sánchez-Aldana, building on a recipe by Amy Twigger Holroyd, which was inspired by an Exploration created by Elly Platt, Talia Hussain and Martin Benes, which was in turn developed from a World contributed by Suzanne Rowland, using a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence which allows others to share and adapt the work in any medium and for any purpose, providing that they credit the authors and share their material using the same Creative Commons licence.

Thanks to all the students from the Research + Creation Unit who took part in this World 91 enactment: Daniela Lara, Danna Mariño Pedraza, David Duarte Roa, Joel Manevich Cepeda, Manuela Gómez Villa, María Fernanda León Ortiz, María José Gómez Duque, Mariana León Ortiz, Mariana Restrepo Acevedo, Mariana Rojas Gallego, Nathalia Huertas Restrepo, Simón de Zubiría Restrepo.

Photography by Alejandro Barragán.

Visit the original World 91 fiction

Visit World 91, Exploration A

Does this World remind you of something?

I am keen to hear about any historical or contemporary real-world examples – whether individual practices, subcultures or mainstream activities – that this fiction brings to mind.

Please share any such examples using this form. Thank you!