A New Project by Artist Indira Freitas Johnson in the Chicago River, Oct. 6, 2007

Chicago artist, Indira Freitas Johnson, takes a spiritual journey when she makes an offering for peace in the Chicago River on Saturday, October 6, 2007. Organized by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs’ Public Art program, her project, Where Sky Meets Water can be seen at the Chicago River by the Michigan Avenue Bridge from 9 am to 11 a.m.

Johnson has over the last 2 years painstakingly incised the Sanskrit syllable Om, a symbol of universal spiritual presence, on more than 500 leaves. On October 6 at 9 a.m., twelve canoeists will release the leaves and begin to float them onto the Chicago River at the Michigan Avenue Bridge. Others will gather at the Bridge joining hands to participate in this ritual of peace.

Soundlessly chanting Om, the leaves will float for two hours on the surface of the water, reflecting the sky, linking each voice in a way that connects individual experiences to the greater whole of family, community and cosmos. As the current moves the leaves slowly, gradually taking them apart, they will fulfill the third aspect of all life, dissolution. What will remain for all watching will be the knowledge of one’s own potential for meaningful artistic expression and how nature has the potential to heal and restore oneself.

Indira Freitas Johnson is an artist and cultural worker from India, who has lived and worked in the Chicago area for thirty years. She is inspired by South Asian folk art traditions and ritual practices that have been in existence for hundreds of years and have their origins in the need to locate the individual in a larger universal realm. Her installation, Indira Freitas Johnson: Lifetime Offer, Dimensions Variable can be seen at the Chicago Cultural Center through October 7, 2007.

Where Sky Meets Water is rooted in the South Asian practice where ritual offerings are put out into the rivers and seas, and offerings are made to pay homage to deities and to thank them for life’s various wants.

Chicagoans can participate in the project by decorating their own leaves in a free workshop with Indira Freitas Johnson on Saturday, September 29 at 11 a.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington Street, 1st floor Garland Room.

Click Here to see more pictures

For more information about Where Sky Meets Water, email indirajohnson@comcast.net