Dear V,
This is another letter from Vienna. Keeping you updated on the fourth episode of the Rite of Passage. There are many changes happening to all of us on different levels at the moment. it seems that life got back to how it had been before, just with some sanitisers and the mouth mask on. Observing life from its slowest to its fastest speed that is what we have been doing. Right now Janne is helping with a land art project in Denmark, Rafael is traveling to Kate, who has been very much involved in the project, two of them were responsible for the video footage. Last night I gave birth to little bebe Boba.. and Zahar is preparing for his cycle trip back to the Hague. We realised that during the isolation we have been living our lives, working in Annastate, without a big change, which meant that most of the time we anyway avoid the direct influence of the outside world. We hope that more people have and know their inner anchors , habits and desires that serve as a guiding points in life.

Best wishes,
Annastate

The present situation was totally unimaginable just a few months ago, and shows both an unprecedented rise of state control over the public sphere and an inspiring example of what can be achieved if humanity is united in a common cause. The global lockdown is a rite of passage of sorts – our society is at the crossroads of perhaps more compassionate times, and as people spend more time with themselves and their families, it also means a certain intensification of experience, which could bring about a change in the outlook and values. To celebrate this transition and offer some mirroring, Annastate residents are issuing a video-broadcasting series combining video and performance with the readings of works of Lithuanian writer Raimundas Malašauskas.

Annastate would like to thank Stroom for the support of the project, PageNotFound for the informational support, Raimundas Malasauskas for his interest in collaboration and West for the guidance and platform.

P.S. The members of Annastate have started the project during the peak of the pandemic and today (four months later, July 2020) it seems that the whole world is ready to ‘get out’ of the lockdown, to meet friends again and... continue the life as it used to be. We share the same desire to overcome the lockdown, but putting a different meaning to what overcoming means.
It is about re-evaluating oneself and the world we are living in, to meet the new world where the whole system and society as we know it, invests more into education, health, people’s values and morals.