Udaipur Shakti Works - About US(W)

About US(W)

Who we are

Our Mission is Experiential Transformation

To transform our experience of artistic creation.
To transform our experience of healing power.
To transform our experience of living in the world.
In sum to transform consciousness for a new evolutionary course.

Our Strategy is Creative Contagion
To gather masters, geniuses and virtuosos (recognized or not) in sensually exciting
locales until a critical mass is reached and spontaneous combustion occurs.
To expose the public to the magic and visions that are ignited either
up close and personal or in media reflections from afar.

Our Organization
USW is now a collaborative project between Big Medicine, a US/Japan green think tank/project developer, Udaipur's newly formed Big Medicine Charitable Trust, and Catalyst India Pvt Ltd, proprietor of the project land. Together they are creating a new so-called "Section 25" non-profit corporation to manage USW cultural, educational and environmental activities from 2010 on.

What we're working with/for/on

Udaipur Shakti Works Presents

A Place - 2 raw acres in an improbably magical locale to craft a global artistic conspiracy center, an eco-somatic healing/learning retreat and a garden of earthy delights
A Plan to evoke/publicize miracles: wonders of nature, marvels of art, prodigies of healing power
A Project to reunite the east/west gypsy spirit in a synergistic circus of epiphanous surprise
A Process to reopen the ancient channels between sensuality, vitality and societal advance
A Plot to overthrow the deadening rule of stuff with a spirited reign of juice and jazz

A Parade of virtuoso co-conspirators already here or ready to come and play and share
A Paradigm for sustainable living: healthy energies, passionate art & luxurious simplicity
A Pledge to share our pelf and premises with the struggling whiz kids of the town
A Pitch to those blessed with talents, wealth or other gifts to come and lend a hand

Why this must work

Our five literally conspiratorial and pretty unassailable reasons for this work...
Read more...

What's with the name...

We take words, particularly names, very seriously as the foreshadowing of what we hope to incarnate, catalyze, manifest. As the riffs referenced in the "Read more" section suggest, Udaipur Shakti Works expresses this project’s interlocking artistic, eco-medicinal and political aspirations. In brief, however:

Udaipur - literally "city of the rising sun", Udaipur is one of the most beautiful and popular cultural destinations in Asia and the historic capitol of Mewar, the most egalitarian, uncompromised and highly revered of India's 565 traditional princely states. Udaipur is also home to thousands of gifted artists and a renowned center of resistance to all alien imperial aims (important virtues if you're trying to provoke new cultural phenomena and also resist the global corporate coup).

Shakti - Hinduism's feminine incarnation of creative/healing/protective power; the Tantric Mother Goddess and energy of life (aka kundalini); (and thanks to John McLaughlin, the West's first "world music" band). She embodies all our artistic, therapeutic and eco-social remedial aims and flaunts four millennia of sex appeal as well.

Works - verb: functions, performs as expected, serves the intended purpose;
noun: deeds, exploits, production site...

Coordinates

Location, location, location...

As an aspiring inspirational/educational showcase for

transformative performance art, energetic healing and elegant green tech,
USW wants/needs to present its visions to a globally influential crew.

Happily, we find ourselves blessed with an extremely high visibility venue

on the banks of Lake Pichola surrounded by the three most prestigious
hotels in Asia's 2nd most popular "cultural destination" (aka tourist town)
(i.e., the Taj Lake Palace , Oberoi's Udaivilas and the Leela Palace Kempinski).

Over a million foreign travellers visit Udaipur each year ranging from backpacking pilgrims, artists

and adventurers to international stars and entrepreneurs. We hope to provide a provocative

collaborative environment to the former where they can conspire and develop their gifts and dreams,

and a motivating example to the latter of a far more gratifying, sensual and sustainable world.

Click on "Read more" for a satellite view and an image feast...

First USW Project: Muladhara Tours

Developing the full USW project site will take 2~3 years, but in the meantime we are building the artist networks and teaching paradigms we need to create a world class talent incubator for gifted youth from the neighborhood and abroad. Our first such initiative is an Indo-Japanese collaboration called Muladhara Tours.

To view, click the Full Screen button (fourth icon from left)

Advisory Voices

Given our modest resources and the geographic dispersion of the experts we know and love, we probably will never have a functioning formal "Advisory Board" (and if truth be told, we know few non-millionaire groups who really do).

But we have been blessed with a diversity of brilliant teachers in India, the West and Japan who have mentored us over the years and continue to answer our calls.

Now that we are attempting to marshal and manifest many of their teachings and ideas, those calls will become more frequent and we will dutifully ask if they care to publicly associate their persons with this cause. Early responses have been gratifying, however, and you can check out early adopters here.

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