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Sacred Steps

On Pilgrimage

Contemporary pilgrimage, walking art, climate and activism

Modern day pilgrimage is growing in popularity – every year numbers grow along some of the oldest and most traditional pilgrimage routes.  Pilgrimage has been practised for millennia and is shared by all the world’s major religions, on every continent  – there isn’t a day when a pilgrimage is being undertaken. 

In days gone by, a privilege for a few to travel to distant places to experience different cultures, and for many a requirement as part of a life-long devotion, today pilgrimage destinations and routes are not limited by faith alone, some not even constrained by an existing route, but carving a new route drawing attention to contested sites and issues sometimes of global significance.

Art has been entwined with pilgrimage from the outset, in iconography and relics, object attribution and travel souvenirs, music and folklore, and more recently in walking performances.

Working alongside the World Trails Network (WTN), a community of trail management and tourism providers, that include many traditional pilgrimage routes and trails that now accommodate secular pilgrims, we are running a series of online events to discuss the roles walking art plays in pilgrimage and vice versa.

Hosted by Lora Aziz, co-chair of the WTN Arts & Culture Task Force and the team from walk · listen · create, we bring you panels of thought leaders, trail professionals and walking artists to discuss key themes.

This second event in the series focusses on Contemporary pilgrimage, walking art, climate and activism and we are delighted to welcome Roxana Perez-Mendez of Campo Research Studio, Jonathan Baxter and Jolie Booth of Krya Arts and Pilgrimage for Nature.

Further events in series include:

  • 5th May  – Creating pilgrimage routes – Faith-based, radical and community-led paths
  • 2nd June – Art on the pilgrim path – Artists working along routes and in landscapes
  • 7th July  – Stories from the road – Walking writing, sound, photography and archives
  • 4th August – Communities and Trails – Local voices, custodianship and care

Concurrent with this series of online events we are also running a poetry writing competition on pilgrimage – read more here.


Hosts

Roxana Perez-Mendez

Roxana Perez-Mendez

(United States / Puerto Rico) 
Jonathan Baxter

Jonathan Baxter

Artist and ... (United Kingdom) 
Jolie Booth

Jolie Booth

(Guernsey) 
Lora Aziz

Lora Aziz

(United Kingdom) 

Supported by

The World Trails Network

The World Trails Network (WTN) strives to connect the diverse trails of the world to promote the creation, enhancement, and protection of ou
Lora AzizAli Pretty
This event has happened

2026-04-07 18:00
2026-04-07 18:00

Video recording
Online
Sub-collection

On Pilgrimage

Sub-collection · 6 items

Related

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Pilgrimage today

Modern day pilgrimage is growing in popularity – every year numbers grow along some of the oldest and most traditional pilgrimage routes.  Pilgrimage has been practised for millennia and is shared by all the world’s major religions, on every continent  – there isn’t a day when a pilgrimage is being undertaken.  In days gone by,

Lora Aziz Andrew Stuck +3
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On Pilgrimage: what we have learned so far

In association with the Arts & Culture Task Force of the World Trails Network, we are running a six month series of monthly online meetings with academic researchers, thought leaders, trail professionals and walking artists to investigate pilgrimage today. Beginning in March, and to run on the first Tuesday of subsequent months, the first session

Clara Gari William Sharpe +11
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Creating pilgrimage routes

Faith-based, radical and community-led paths Today pilgrimage destinations and routes are not limited by faith alone, some not even constrained by an existing route, but carving a new route drawing attention to contested sites and issues sometimes of global significance. Art has been entwined with pilgrimage from the outset, in iconography and relics, object attribution

jane sharkey Matthew Anderson +2
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On Pilgrimage 2 – Sacred Steps

Working alongside the World Trails Network (WTN), a community of trail management and tourism providers, that include many traditional pilgrimage routes and trails that now accommodate secular pilgrims, we are running a series of online events to discuss the roles walking art plays in pilgrimage and vice versa. This second event in the series focusses on Contemporary pilgrimage,

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Art on the Pilgrim Path

Artists working along routes and in landscapes Art has been entwined with pilgrimage from the outset, in iconography and relics, object attribution and travel souvenirs, music and folklore, and more recently in walking performances. Does a pilgrimage route become an open-air studio exhibiting the pilgrim experience? Working alongside the World Trails Network (WTN), a community of trail

Kathryn Barush Clara Gari +4
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Stories from the Pilgrim’s Road

Walking writing, sound, photography and archives Every road a pilgrim travels is pre-loaded with stories, and each pilgrim’s journey is a story in itself. In this episode of the On Pilgrimage series we are investigating stories, and the media through which they are told. Working alongside the World Trails Network (WTN), a community of trail management and

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Walking piece

Walking the Michael and Mary Lines

In September 2020 Jolie Booth went on a pilgrimage, walking the St Michael's ley line from Land's End to Hopton-on-Sea on the Norfolk coast. It's about 500 miles.

Jolie Booth

clittering

To make frictional or rattling sound + clittering (Anglo-Irish) – the noise of hurrying feet (from Irish: cliotar)

Added by Maurice Azzano
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