Our musical collective Xleph will be in residency at Teatermaskinen May 14-20.

They will investigate if music and hypnotherapy together help us to be stronger in the formulation of our own identity. They will do so by recording material under hypnosis which will be shaped into their first studio album. 

The individual members of the collective will also perform a public concert on May 18.

Here are some reflections on the project:

“Who is the real me?” is one of the most persistent questions in human history. It is a question that obviously has no simple answer. Still, we know that from the day we are born that we are influenced by the outside world. We are shaped by our experiences of the natural and technological environment. But maybe more importantly, we are influenced by parents, teachers, siblings, friends, colleagues, the media, social media, politics, economic reality and artistic influences.

As our society gradually becomes more complex, the external pressure on each individual becomes stronger, it therefore becomes increasingly important to know who we are. At the same time it is not simple for each individual to formulate his/her life goals without influence of the above named external forces. It is harder than ever to distinguish our own wishes from those that are imposed on us by social and commercial interests.

Each individual human being struggles on his/her journey through life to make the most of the potential that he/she has. Not knowing who we are and where we belong can stop us from contributing to our loved ones’ lives and to society in general. In order to make this search easier, humanity has developed innumerable techniques to navigate through our inner lives: religious beliefs, psychoanalysis and self-help

Art and music are some of the oldest and most versatile tools for inner navigation and hypnotherapy is one of the most recent ones to be developed. In this project, artists, musicians and hypnotherapists from Sweden and France join forces to investigate what can be learned from bringing hypnotherapy and art together.