WELCOME, SPACE BROTHERS: THE UNARIUS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE
EXHIBITION: SAT 18th JUNE – SAT 16th JULY, MON – SAT, 12 – 6pm
OPENING EVENT: FRI 17th JUNE, 7pm
UNARIUS WORKSHOP: SUN 19th JUNE, 4pm
Founded in Los Angeles in 1954 by advanced clairvoyants Ernest Norman (a scientist, engineer and author) and his wife, Ruth Norman (aka Archangel Uriel), the Unarius Academy of Science is one of a number of organizations who promote spiritual growth through clairvoyant guidance, principles of reincarnation and interaction with spirit guides. An exuberant leader, Uriel encouraged radical creativity in all Unarius members, intuitive painting and the production of past-life psychodrama “documentaries,” and other films made from late ‘70s through the early ‘90s.
The films featured Unariuns in otherworldly costumes and full makeup incorporating elaborate sets, guerrilla location-filming techniques, and ingenious no-budget special effects in order to channel and re-enact their previous lives together on Earth and other planets for purposes of spiritual healing. This ambitious collective produced a legacy of some of the most mind-shattering, oddly uplifting gems of American outsider cinema including three feature films on 16mm and Super 8, and over 100 video productions, which have been repeatedly aired on public-access TV across the USA since the ‘80s. These productions permanently altered the minds of tens of thousands across the country — from late-night stoners to seekers leaving behind their lives in order to join the cause and move to the Academy headquarters in El Cajon, where Unarius still operates.
Bootlegged and coveted by collectors for decades, these films have never before been presented as works on the large screen in the UK — until now. Alongside the Unarius Academy of Science films will be selection of costumes and ephemera.
This exhibition is presented in association with Strange Attractor Press.
Part of our 2016 programme:
‘Collective Intention: Affirmative visions from communes, collectives and cults’.