HOLY CHILDREN

Berlin, 2021

The effects of selfish capitalism and current power systems have brought about a crisis that extends from the geological to the individual, positioning depression as the leading cause of disability today. However, mental health research over the past few decades on the use of psilocybin has had positive and encouraging results for treatments, reopening a space for further research in psychedelic psychotherapy. Mushrooms emerge as a perfect ally to promote a biocultural paradigm shift, but the experience of magic mushrooms needs a culturally agreed-upon context where alterations of consciousness make sense. Only by integrating and understanding them psychologically and socially can we practice new ways of being in this world without ego and build a sustainable future in tune with our shared ecologies.

**Holy Children**, a contemporary art and science exhibition in three chapters oriented towards families, elucidates various historical events related to two magic mushrooms: Amanita muscaria and some species of Psilocybe. Through interactive, auditory, dead, and living pieces by 17 international artists, the exhibition reflects on the cultural entanglements of these hallucinogenic mushrooms that appear at the intersection of science, spirituality, and popular culture. Holy Children invites the public to deconstruct and recycle extractivist narratives and to immerse themselves in a playful learning experience. Magic mushrooms allow us to romanticize life again; like in the brains and minds of children, a state of openness and genuine curiosity is unlocked, in which the discursive spaces that separate Nature and Culture are not established, giving the green light for new stories to take shape.