THESE CARDS ARE NOT MAGIC ’ is a tool, a collaboration, a methodology, a performance which invites artists and conspirators to have an honest conversation about their relationships. Drawing on the legacy of conventional tarot, this new deck utilizes contemporary language, imagery and a collaborative practice to generate textures of conversation and exchange. These cards and the performed reading provide a platform for conversations to arise and the invitation to talk through the images. The cards provide a safe and non-confrontation backdrop to talk about collaborations, crossing borders (artistic and physical) and thresholds. In this workshop participants are invited to dive into a new world of hosting honest conversations through collaborative artist-made tarot. All participants will be gifted a deck and provided the teachings to adapt this practice to their own context.

Developed in collaboration with artist Bek Berger and Gob Squad, this deck offers an insight into the creative landscape of the collective, providing a tool for other collective practices to shift perspectives, find common ground and pass through blocks in the road. This deck is an invitation to embrace the multibody of collective practice, to take stock and to build joyful bonds through the process. The deck can be applied to any collective, a creative one, an organising one, a geographically anchored one, a family one, any group of people, temporary or permanent who see themselves as a collective.

James Batchelor and Collaborators are a team of independent dance artists from Australia. Their body of work, including DEEPSPACE (Dance Massive 2017), HYPERSPACE (Aerowaves twenty19) and REDSHIFT (Chunky Move, Next Move Commission 2017) is known for its visual clarity, architectural composition and rhythmic playfulness. With a commitment to slowness and sensitivity, movement is hypnotically focused and detailed, drawing audiences into contemplative and imaginative realms. They have presented extensively in Australia and overseas to such festivals/venues as Tanz Im August (DE), December Dance (BE), Tanzmesse (DE), Birmingham International Dance Festival (UK), Arnolfini (UK), Chisenhale Dance (UK), B.Motion / Operestate (IT), Homo Novous (LV), Trois C-L (LU), Jonge Harten (NL), Lonely in Rain? (FI), Arts House (AU) and Dancehouse (AU).