TRANSFORM
Ritual is a theater of transformation—a journey from one state to another. The first collection of A Higher Art will share five rituals that explore this concept of transformation, as it relates to spiritual possession, ritual sacrifice, and even mummification.
Many of these rituals seek to define our relationship with death and the afterlife. They use processes of transformation as ways to ease our understanding of what it means reach the end. The afterlife is a story that will only ever be told by the living and the shape that that story takes is often sculpted by rituals of transformation.
Episode 1
A stunning, first-hand account of spiritual possession at the Thaipusam Festival—Southeast Asia’s largest and most revered Hindu pilgrimage in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Episode 2
Experience the full creative process of Taiwan’s most distinct cultural tradition—the construction of Shen Dzu. These holy statues are made from the bodies of morbidly obese pigs.
Episode 3
Sacred, Thai student-teacher bonds inspire an underground community of musicians and dancers to carry the torch of the Fon Phi tradition.
Episode 4
Two Torajan villages share their process for Ma’nene—a tomb cleaning ritual that forms an everlasting union between the living and the dead.
Episode 5
An inside look at the Nine Emperor Gods Festival through the eyes of a traditional Chinese medium who risks it all for their beliefs.