Alister Pate

The Idea Spiritus et Locus is an exercise in soul photography. The idea is simple enough. Go out into your day, paying attention to where Spirit could be at work. When you see it – an image that speaks to your soul - take a photo. Then upload the photo and a short reflection to our website ( www.spiritusetlocus.org). Then, in late September , as part of Melbourne Fringe Festival, we are going to hold an exhibition in the CANSpace.
So much for the elevator pitch. But what, actually, is this idea? How does it work? Everything interesting has a story behind it – so what’s the story here?



The story starts in 2011, where I was doing the Camino de Santiago with a few friends. The Camino is an ancient tradition, reaching deep into the pre-Christian roots of Europe, but in its modern incarnation, it is a long walk across Spain from the French border, across the Pyrenees, to Santiago de Compostela to pay your respects to the remains of St James, which miraculously washed up there in the 1 ^st Century, and conveniently rediscovered
in the Middle Ages.

The point here is, of course, not so much whether these are indeed the bones of St James the Great – the point is the experience itself. The journey, rather than the destination, Is the most important thing.

And it has to be said, the journey is a real buzz. Do it. Take a few months off, stick a change of clothes and a (very light) camera into a pack, and get walking. You won’t regret it.

But what if you want that experience without the annoying inconvenience of walking the whole way across Spain? What if you can’t spare forty or so days, or you aren’t sure you’re up to walking over the Pyrenees, or you can’t quite face getting up at 5 in the morning, every single day? What then? How can you go about finding transcendence in your daily life without walking the whole way across Spain? How can you root your spirituality in the nitty-gritty of real life? How can you practice finding “God in all things”?

That’s where Spiritus et Locus comes in. Yes, it’s an art project – I want your pictures. But it’s more than that. I don’t just want beautiful images (though, if you want to create beautiful images, I’m very happy to welcome them of course.) I want you to have the reflective experience. The fun of this is the combination of image and reflection. What resonates with you spiritually? It might be something joyous and beautiful – a sunset, a child’s smile, a really good latte (or perhaps that’s just me?) Or it might be an image of doubt, or suffering – a traffic jam, an abandoned alleyway. A real, grounded spirituality is not just made up of happy, smiley moments – it has to engage with uncomfortable feelings as well.




Summary Of The Project
Spiritus et Locus is an invitation to engage in a collaborative exercise in reflective photography, rooted in our conviction that Spirit (Spiritus) is at work in every place in which we find ourselves (Locus.)

This reflective exercise of mindfulness is a re-imagining of the ancient practice of the Examen, where we cultivate the practice of looking for Spirit in our real lives.

Everyone who finds this resonant is invited to engage with Spiritus et Locus: people who are seeking, the spiritual but not religious, people of faith, and those who don’t identify with any of these groups.

We invite you to submit an image to our website, reflecting on how you see Spirit at work in your world, using our seven ways: joy, suffering, spirituality, service, doubt, reconciliation, and work.

The culmination of the project will be an exhibition, part of Melbourne Fringe Festival, held in the CANSpace, where through the images and words participants have submitted, you will be invited to reflect in turn, on Spirit’s action in your world.

The exhibition will raise funds for the Indigenous Hospitality House in Carlton, and the St Yared School in Addis Adaba.

This project is jointly auspiced by the Church of All Nations and Caféchurch Melbourne.



How It Works The project started in earnest when the interactive website went live at the start of August. Go out into your day with your mobile phone or camera ready to go. Be on the lookout for images that move you, that connect with you spiritually.
To make that a bit less of a big ask, we have come up with Seven Ways. Saying “take a photo of Spirit at work” can be a bit of a paralysing– I mean, where do you start? It’s too big, too amorphous. The Seven Ways are an attempt to make that a bit easier – to concretise it a little.

The Seven Ways are:
- Joy
- Work
- Reconciliation
- Service and Love
- Spirituality
-  Suffering
- Doubt
 When you have your photo (or photos – the more the merrier), upload it to our website – www.spiritusetlocus.org – along with a short reflection – just a sentence or so. Share it on Facebook or Twitter. In fact, why don’t you follow us on Facebook (facebook/SpiritusEtLocus) right now? We will be providing a steady stream of these images and reflections for your inspiration and viewing pleasure.

Then from the 25 ^th until the 30^th of September, we are going to have an exhibition in the CANSpace in Carlton (180 Palmerston Road Carlton.) Our aim is to hang as many images and reflections as we can manage, and seriously attempt to make sure everyone is represented.

We will be having a grand opening on the evening of the 25 ^th, which we will run as a fundraiser for two great causes – the Indigenous Hospitality House in Carlton), and the School of St Yared in Addis Ababa

Who We Are This project is a collaboration of Caféchurch Melbourne, and the Church of All Nations in Carlton. We have also been awarded the 2014 Kirk Robson Award for Theology and the Arts.

Spiritus et Locus is proud to be part of the Mebourne Fringe Festival 2014!

Admin Costs (1 day per week): $2,700.00
Website design and hosting: $2,500.00
Fringe Registration: $260.00
Promotion: $300.00
Exhibition Costs: $1,000.00
Total: $6,760

Received already: Kirk Robson Award 2014 - $3000

Total to raise: $3,760