The first contemporary arts collection, ‘Samädhi - Santi’ was successfully launched on the 31st, January 2014, receiving worldwide recognition from media around the world. The presentation event was revealed at River City Grand Hall, Bangkok, Thailand.
The collection was inspired by the inner peace experiences of 20 artist participants from the program entitled the “I Meditation Artistic Retreat”. This first artistic fellowship was formed by Peace Revolution, bringing 20 artists from different backgrounds, cultures and specialties. They gathered to practice the ancient art of meditation to create art work that expressed their inner peace experiences. The artists were from 18 different nationalities such as Peru, Pakistan, Serbia, Ukraine and Turkey. The participants had previously carried out a 42-day online meditation and self development program in order to train their minds and habits for the retreat.
The program took place from January 14th - 27th at Yao Noi Island, the beautiful remote island of Phang Nga, Thailand. They practiced meditation, yoga and participated in lessons from the teaching monks to help cultivate their inner peace experience. In the two weeks, they also worked to create artwork to express their deep inner experiences as a result of their meditations.
From interviewing the participants, some have had great meditation experiences. An artist from Canada, Anne Marguerite Paré said that in her meditation she felt as if she was blessed by a calm and peaceful light. She felt the energy of warmth and love coming from the center of her body, “Today’s meditation was blissful”.
The practice of meditation helped the 20 artists to create their masterpieces. A talented Thai Indian participant, Karma Sirikogar said “Meditation helps me center myself and open a much wider perspective. It gave me the ability to be unattached to old plans or concepts. I could see abstract visuals in my meditation and I express them through my paintings. When I paint I have my mind in the state of meditation and feel the peaceful stillness. In this painting I express my inner peace experience by drawing a calm ocean with the beautiful visual in the center.”
In the two week program, the artists did collaborative work and created new art work together. They have experimented with new techniques and successfully expressed their inner peace through their art.
After the meditation program, the artists traveled to showcase their art work in the Samadhi-Santi Collection of Contemporary Art. The event gave a chance for the public and media to witness and appreciate first-hand what peace looks like through the artists’ eyes. The artwork attracted good interest from international media as well as many local media stations in Thailand such as Thai PBS and Channel 9 MCOT. The artwork of the ‘Samädhi - Santi Collection’ has shown that the mind which performs meditation is a mind that is raised to its fullest creative potential. The art of meditation is an experience that someone from any background, culture or expertise can learn and discover.
