Playing with post-secular performance

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.