SOIL: ATTENTION, DEPTH & MEANING

We are living through a period of profound technological, environmental and social change. Amid increasing speed, overstimulation and uncertainty, questions of attention, meaning, relationship and belonging have taken on renewed importance.

How do we remain grounded without withdrawing from the world? What allows depth, clarity and meaningful relationship to emerge within conditions that increasingly fragment attention and diminish the quality of experience?

How do we cultivate the inner and cultural conditions that allow people and communities to flourish?

Presented in collaboration with Norræna Húsið as part of Menningarnótt 2026, this project responds to their curatorial theme, SOIL. The project approaches soil not only ecologically, but also as a condition for nourishment, grounding, receptivity and depth. Through this lens, it explores how environment, culture and atmosphere shape perception, emotional life, relationship and meaning. It asks what nourishes attention, what deepens experience, and how a more meaningful relationship with ourselves, one another and the wider world might emerge in a time of increasing dispersion and isolation.

The programme consists of two connected events:

Saturday 22 August 2026 | 11:30–12:45

Public Talk by Stéphane Chollet – Soil: Attention, Depth & Meaning – Norræna Húsið (Elissa Auditorium)

The first is a public talk by French researcher and teacher Stéphane Chollet, exploring the relationship between perception, culture, human development and contemporary life. Through perspectives drawn from psychology, education, aesthetics and environmental awareness, the talk offers a framework for reflecting on some of the central questions of our time.

Saturday 22 August 2026 | 13:45–15:15

Reflective Gathering – Norræna Húsið (Space to be confirmed)

Bringing Nordic storytelling culture into conversation with traditions of oral transmission, it creates a space for storytelling, dialogue and shared enquiry. Together, the two events offer a reflective counterpoint within Menningarnótt, creating space for depth, attention and meaningful conversation within contemporary life.

About STÉPHANE CHOLLET

Stéphane Chollet is a French researcher, educator and speaker whose work explores the intersections of psychology, education, perception and human development. Through decades of study, teaching and direct engagement with diverse knowledge traditions, he has developed a distinctive ability to distil complex ideas into accessible and practical insights. Combining intellectual rigour with lived experience, his work illuminates contemporary questions of meaning, perception and human flourishing.

All guests are invited to join the Guided tour of Membrane: Myth and Fictions of Soil  guided by curator Thomas Pausz in relation to this event. The tour will take place from 13:00-13:40 before the reflective gathering.

Event in collaboration with Jite Brume.

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