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We had a beautiful time together making space for breathing, dreaming and exploring at this Utopia Lab. Sadly Euan was unable to attend but he sent along many tiny glass bottles of perfume materials and also some of his own extraordinary olfactory creations. Pupak led us through a Scaravelli Yoga warm up and shared her vision of a utopian future in which we all care for the world around us because we have all found a home, a rootedness in the earth that sustains and inspires us.After a delicious lunch, Ekaterina facilitated an exercise in which Utopians were asked to select certain items (there was an array of stones, shells, Euan’s scent bottles, Pupak’s exquisite stained glass pieces, feathers, chestnuts, etc) to which we felt an attraction. Then we placed these objects in the space, and sat, lay, or moved around them. We felt ourselves in relation to these objects, and how changing our position changed our relationship to the objects and to one another.It was a very moving and surprisingly powerful exercise, which generated conversation after about the meaning of the insights discovered. What is it to be attracted to objects in nature, to particular places and ways of being in those places? What is it to care for that which calls us, and to be still and observant in our relationships?
Many thanks to all who joined us in Utopia. Until next time, may you continue to listen for that which calls to you, and to find stillness in those places.
Utopia Speakers
Pupak Haghighi is learning to become indigenous to the West Coast of Scotland by building a relationship with the sea and landscape in Moidart and the indigenous community living in Glenuig. She was born in Iran and grew up near the Caspian Sea. She emigrated to Japan with her family in 1984 to get away from the Iran-Iraq war. In 1989-1990 she joined a programme to study peace-making around the world ~ but experienced a deeper war than the one back home. She wrote Theatre O, Healing from War, Co-Creating Paradise Earth, thirty years after her peace studies around the world experience. Theatre O offers a stage to explore the facets of our relationships to the archetypes and to our original stories. By accessing our original stories, we are able to regain our wholeness.
Pupak offers workshops on rewilding ourselves and the world with her husband, Alan Watson Featherstone in Glen Affric. She has set up a Scottish Charity, Trees for Hope to facilitate the process of ecological recovery in her native countries. She is a storyteller, a Scaravelli yoga practitioner, a massage and somatic healer, and co-creator of the 1001 mosaic angels for the Fertile Crescent art work. pupakhaghighi.net
Euan McCall is a Scottish Master Perfumer with over 15 years experience in perfumery. Having worked for a decade as a consultant and perfumer for some of the UK’s most successful fragrance brands, McCall founded Jorum Laboratories in 2010. Euan’s approach combines advanced perfumery techniques with instinct. Each Jorum creation presents wearers with new olfactory profiles that are original and of the highest quality. Combining a love for natural aromatic essences, advanced and high-performance manufactured materials and the interplay between the two media every Jorum creation is a rich aromatic story waiting to be discovered. Jorum Studio was founded by McCall and partner Chloe Mullen in 2019. Jorum Studio creates innovative perfumes that are exciting in their newness as well as being highly wearable. Jorum Studio has gained a large and loyal fanbase across the world. www.jorumstudio.com
Utopia Guest Facilitator
Ekaterina Shurkova As a cognitive neuroscientist, Ekaterina is interested in how we connect with the world: how we learn, play, communicate, solve problems, and change our mind. Her research interests lie in creative problem solving and seeing the world in terms of relations. The most intriguing topic for her is the role of symbols, metaphors, and an awareness of space around us in our growth and problem solving. Ekaterina is interested in research on the mind and the brain, as well as in studies on animism, ritual, and ceremony. She currently works as a Teaching Fellow at the Department of Psychology and runs a private coaching practice, Symbolic Space.
