Create
commissioned sculpture by Serah Lenea
The Respite hosts creative residencies in support of queer, trans, nonbinary and/or black, indigenous, cultural workers of colors’ vision for manifesting, concocting and scheming a collective libratory future.
Irina Zadov, Abena Motaboli, and Peregrine Bermas (LtoR)
came to the Respite from Chicago in October 2020 for a two-week cultural curriculum development residency.
This is some of what transpired…
“It felt safe to be anywhere on the land, and to be alone even in
darkness, to be in a body not surveilled but just witnessed by more than human kindred.
There were plenty of black walnuts to make ink, leaves to write on,
clay to bake, colors and sounds, and space to meditate, play, move or dry projects.”
“The creek was magical. I can’t say it enough. It gave me life, it gave me what I needed. To be able to wake up to the sounds of nature as it should be. I am personally so
inspired by water, so this creek became like a nurturer to me. I would put my loose tarps
on rocks in the creek and return to them each day seeing how they had changed or
interacted with the earth.”
- Abena Motaboli, interdisciplinary artist, writer, educator, cultural worker
canvas drop cloth prints of India ink, tea, coffee, clay and pokeweed berries from the creek by Abena Motaboli
by Irina Zadov, queer post-Soviet Jewish artist, educator and cultural organizer
re-matriation
re-mothering
re-membering
old Red Oak at the base of the beach area at the Respite
we, the doulas of
joy, slowness, and fire
healing wounds and wombs
guided by the stars
on our ancestors' fingers
we dance with the creek
build altars to orb-weavers
read poetry to the trees
we journey with burdock
mullein, tulsi, and comfrey
pressed leaves are portals to childhood
fires to ancestral homelands
our stories flow
like rain in a flood plain
fallen trees fertilize
the alluvial forest
possibilities grow here
nourished by affirmations,
generosity, and accountability
we gather by moonlight
wait for the sun to raise through the fog
we know regeneration
in our cells
joyful redistribution
releasing what is not ours
these are the lesson of the earth
we do not own anything
we are all guests here
leave behind your ambition
your illusions of control
beneath the rage is pain
beneath the pain is power
a child sized elder
calls me sis
we cultivate fire
she asks to sit on my knee
we build a twig mountain
and watch it fall
embers dancing
with the wind
we pray with our actions
cast spells with our hands
heal and transform
by reciprocating the gift
Barn (600 Sq Ft) Available as Maker Space
Film Shoots
Part III of Prophesy (2020) written and performed by Durham theater artist, Monet Noelle Marshall was shot at the Respite. photo credit Caroline Cockrell.
Between Dreams, short film by Arpan Gauchan shot on location at Respite in the Round. Sept 2018.