Playing with Post-Secular Performance

Abstract

Bringing the concept of the post-secular together with contemporary performance might seem an odd thing to do, especially as the term is more generally associated with Catholic theologians. Mike King, of the Centre for Post-secular Studies in London, however, uses post-secularism in a way that may be more helpful in understanding some contemporary trends in art and the wider culture. King sees the post-secular as involving a renewed interest in questions of spirituality, combined with recognition of the importance of the rights and freedoms that resulted from the process of secularization in Europe. Post-secularism in this sense isn’t an attempt to return to a pre-secular religious worldview, which would be a fundamentalist approach, but a relaxed and open approach to spiritual inquiry. In the spirit of such an inquiry I discussed questions of spiritual and artistic practice, individually, with four British artists: Julia Lee Barclay, Ansuman Biswas, Traci Kelly, and Kira O’Reilly.