The Art of the Sacred with Sylvie Barbier of Second Renaissance and Life Itself

The Art of the Sacred with Sylvie Barbier of Second Renaissance and Life Itself

June 23, 2026 · 1h 12m · Season 28 · Episode 4

About this episode

The episode features an interview with Sylvie Barbier, discussing the role of art in societal transformation and the concept of a second renaissance.

"We are a collective of artists making art to bring forth the second renaissance. We are alchemists. We create a new world through our work. We are the bridge between the dying past and the future unborn. Art is an expression of our consciousness and humanity, this is our path of transformation. Life as an art. … Our work is to create a space to be with all of it. To be with the joy, the darkness, the hope, the sadness, the unknown. Our work is to inquire about what would a world that works for everyone look like?" Thus begins the Manifesto on Art in the Second Renaissance, and this week we speak with its author, Sylvie Barbier, a French-Taiwanese performance artist whose work is some of the most powerfully raw, wild and beautiful I have ever seen. As well as being an artist and mother, she's an entrepreneur and educator and one of the two co-founders of Life Itself, which is designed to build a wiser future through culture, space and community. The Life Itself website says, 'We are pragmatic utopians, committed to practical action for a radically wiser, weller world. We create conscious coliving hubs, start businesses, do research and engage in activism to pioneer a wiser…

People in this episode

Guest: Sylvie Barbier

Topics covered

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Second Renaissance, Life Itself

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