These photographs are a record of a video collaboration with a Bosnian artist Irfan Brkovic, taken while swimming in one of the most beautiful beaches on Hvar a couple of years ago. For me they symbolize the primal and powerful connection with the local nature and the amazing sea of Hvar, which is the basis of the inspiration for the events Art of Mindfulness and Moving with Shakti.
One of the things you notice when you first arrive on Hvar is how time slows down. Free from the trappings of consumerist culture, you notice how the nature takes its own tempo.
Art of Mindfulness and Moving with Shakti are both designed to enable the participants to really pay attention to this unique experience of the island, to relax and deepen the connection with nature and themselves through yoga, art and movement.
I have had pleasure to collaborate with Evening and ‘Suncokret’ for three years now on these events, which has been made possible through my own connection to the island. These collaborations have complemented and have grown out of the creative workshops that I have been leading on the island for around ten years, from our summer house, which is not so far from the retreat.
A moment of mindfulness during the Art of Mindfulness event, 2019
Moving with Shakti during the Viva Shakti event, 2019
The atmosphere at ‘Suncokret’ is wonderful. It is precious to meet so many different folks taking the opportunity to relax and renew themselves through yoga, art and movement. It is wonderful that each time this process is as different and unique, as people who participate bring very unique influences.
This year, during Art of Mindfulness and Moving with Shakti, I hope the guests will take the opportunity to take refuge from the pressures of their everyday life, and benefit from the creative, visual and movement-based explorations, designed to foster our own sense of harmony and inner peace.
I was born in neighboring Bosnia, and then found refuge from the war in the UK where I trained in art and theatre. I was also lucky to be deeply shaped and healed by the experience of Vipassana meditation, which has, together with art, helped me to reintegrate my early experiences of the war. My daily practice of meditation helps me to nurture the qualities of intuition and peace, which are also reflected in my creative work.
Recently, after living for two years on Hvar, I moved back to the UK where I had spent most of my adult life, so that my son could start school. For those two years, living with my young son and husband on the island, I got to know its rhythms and subtle changes and explore its natural environments through drawing, swimming, walking and cycling.
The experience has left a deep imprint on all three of us, and after returning I have started to write and illustrate a book inspired by the island. I hope to share this intuitive and intimate relationship to the island with other participants, who, I am sure, will be also spellbound by its beauty.
At the end of event week, one thing I hope the retreat participants will feel is nourished by our unique shared experience.
During the creative workshops that I have led in Croatia, Bosnia and UK, there are moments that stretch, with incredible beauty, and envelop participants into a shared space of play.
These moments evoke for me, an idea of a safe space to dream, rest, create, ‘to feel secure and loved’, or to be ‘at home’. This is my hope for both Art and Mindfulness and Moving with Shakti.
Art of Mindfulness will take place from 9 - 15 August, 2020 and Moving with Shakti is scheduled from 16-22 August. Both events are family-friendly. If you'd like to learn more about both events, check out our recorded Instagram Life video chat with Edina.
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