

Nil Yalter
Lord Byron Meets The Shaman Woman, 2009
Video, color, sound
11 min 16 sec
1/5 - Edition of 5 + 2 AP
In 'Lord Byron Meets the Shaman Woman', using video with new technologies in image and sound production, Nil Yalter integrates performance, digital drawing, animation, and sound effects to construct a...
In "Lord Byron Meets the Shaman Woman", using video with new technologies in image and sound production, Nil Yalter integrates performance, digital drawing, animation, and sound effects to construct a ritual space where time and matter dissolve.
The video opens with lines from Lord Byron’s "Mazeppa", invoking the passage of time and the body’s vulnerability to its effects. Yalter also recites the names of shamans—tracing them back to Khara-Cyrgan (or Morgon-Kara), the "first shaman" in Buryat mythology. Her voice, body, and invocation unlock a different lineage of spiritual leadership than that which has traditionally been associated with men in the majority of organized religions; one that reveals the feminine potential for guidance and transformation.