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.