Tales of A Phoenix: The Letting Go Project

 

February 20th – April 11th, 2021

Monday – Saturday 1-6pm

Chashama gallery space, 266 W 37th Street, NYC

Tales of a Phoenix: The Letting Go Project is a visual art exhibition and durational performance that harnessed the power of ritual to bring women together from across the world in a unified release of old patterns that no longer serve their personal growth. Over the past year, women contributed pieces of fabric inscribed with their intentions of what they wish to let go of. In a meditative performance seated in the gallery window, Schnitzler now stitches these testimonies together into a room-filling skirt, representing the global collective feminine voice. With pieces from 40 different countries and states, the work creates a tapestry of personal stories from all walks of life and cultures, offering a glimpse of where women stand with the struggles they face. Female onlookers are invited to participate by sharing their desires for release on a provided piece of fabric that will be added to the performance project. As the garment grows over the five week period, it will emerge as a sea of fabric filling the entire space. 

 

Following this durational event, the skirt will travel to exhibitions from New York City, to Detroit, Washington D.C., and Bonn, Germany, for people to observe this sacred object, and inviting more women to participate in this growing work. The project will culminate in a final dance performance, with Schnitzler wearing the skirt, and completing with the destruction of it as a powerful symbol of letting go, release, and healing, currently scheduled for Fall 2021. 

​

Tales of a Phoenix: The Letting Go Project is supported by Chashama and The Feminist Art Project.