UPDATES

       For this second edition of the Spring colloquium, ARTHEMOC (l'Association pour la Recherche Transdiciplinaire sur les Hallucinations et autres États Modifés de Conscience) continues its reserach in hallucinations as Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) while also inviting specialists in other related domains such as REM sleep, Out of Body Experiences (OBE), meditation, the cognitive mechanisms of ASC, the phenomenology of ASC, the ontology of hallucinations, trance, psycho-active plants, traditional rituals and shamanism...
       Besides those specialists already well-recognized within their areas of research, this year will also include special sessions dedicated to 'rising researchers'.
       Finally, a number of interesting evenings have been organized around the Colloquium in order to encourage greater interaction and debate between the speakers and the public.

CHIMERIA 2009
7^th International Festival of Visionary Art

Mysticism & the Sacred
in Visionary Art

Sedan (Ardennes)
March 7 - 16, 2009
Salle Marcillet & the Château Fort de Sedan

www.chimeria.org

Illustrated Lecture:
(in French)
L. Caruana
L’Art visionnaire, héritier des traditions sacrées
(Visionary Art: Heir of the Hieratic Tradition)

Saturday March 7, 2009 at 5 pm
Amphithéâtre Pierre Mendès France

Illustrated Lecture:
(in French)
L. Caruana
L’Art visionnaire et la quête personnelle du Sacré
(Visionary Art as a Personal Quest for the Sacred)

Sunday March 15, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Amphithéâtre Pierre Mendès France

       Over the course of the last five centuries, it seems that the Sacred has gradually disappeared from Western art. By investigating the art of other traditions (Hindu, Buddhist, Egyptian and Aztec), L. Caruana will attempt to rediscover their unique 'Hieratic' qualities, capable of reminding us of art's more sacred purpose.
       Turning to the Greek and Renaissance traditions, he will seek out instead their 'Humanist' qualities, which have had a great impact on the course of Occidental art.
       Finally, by focussing on Visionary art, he will show how this art has incorporated the Humanist traditon while also reviving the Hieratic tradition otherwise forgotten by Occidental art.

       For the last twenty-five years, L. Caruana has pursued visions of the Sacred through dreams, trance, entheogens and even madenss. As a lecturer, he has often been invited to speak on the present state of Visionary art. As an exception, L. Caruana has chosen to speak at the Chimeria Festival about his own artistic development.
       Although his approach will, by necessity, be autobiographical, he will also emphasize the struggle that we all share to comprehend the Sacred through life's mysteries.
       Whether through dreams or other states of vision, the Sacred continually announces its presence in our lives - if only we can read its hidden signs...

       For the third year in a row, I gave a presentation on Entheogens and Visionary Art at the Paris Colloquium on Hallucinations in Philosophy & Cognitive Science.
       Rick Doblin of MAPS, author Benny Shanon, director Jan Kounen and a host of others participated in the 4-day event.
       See: hallucinations.risc.cnrs.fr as a new site for those interested in Cognitive Science as an approach to entheogenic visions and consciousness.

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       Two of my works are included in the 5th issue of the CoSM Journal - a special issue on Ritual and Mystery Schools.

      In August 2007, Alex Grey and I got together at The Chapel of Sacred Mirros in New York for an Entheologue discussion on the role of Entheogens in Visionary Art.

       I'm pleased to be included among the group of European Artists (Fuchs, Brauer, Hausner, Giger, De Es, etc) in the forthcoming Visionary Art Show.

       Issue 4 is now on-line, a special feature on Entheogens and Visionary Art. Loaded with images and in-depth texts, The Visionary Revue is an on-line journal documenting the latest trends in the international movement known as Visionary Art.

       The Premiere issue features the renowned MANIFESTO OF VISIONARY ART

                       Go to www.VisionaryRevue.com

       The new millennium brought about a lot of interesting changes in my life.

       Thanks to Andrew Gonzalez and Amanda Sage, I met Ernst Fuchs in the summer of 2000. Together we worked with him in THE APOCALYPSE CHAPEL in Southern Austria, then Andrew, Amanda and I attended the Old Masters / New Visions Seminar. The entire adventure is on view.

       In 2001, I moved to Monaco and apprenticed under Ernst Fuchs for a year, working with him on larger paintings in his studio in the South of France. I wrote an account of that experience (with photos) called LEARNING TO SEE.

       Upon my return to Paris, I launched The Visionary Revue with its Manifesto of Visionary Art. One result was an INTERVIEW in Mental Contagion magazine.

       In the Spring of 2003 I travelled through Egypt, India, Nepal and Tibet, sketching and photographing images among the temples, tombs and ruins. These have been brought together into a photo album: A VISIONARY JOURNEY TO THE EAST.

       Dreams are the main sources of my paintings, and I continue to have some strange and incredible ones. The latest, which I call THE ANCIENT CADUCEUS has primaeval animals and became a reflection on death and rebirth. A sample of my dreams from the last 25 years can be found in my DREAM JOURNAL.

       In August of 2007, Alex Grey and I held an ENTHEOLOGUE at the Chapel of Sacred Mirros in New York. The event was recorded and is now available.

       All of these events are brought together in the FEATURES section.