Roam through its warm, translucent unexpected alcoves, tunnels, rooms, and burrows. Listen to its soundscapes and silences, sit and watch the light change and encounter others also wondering and wandering. ‘The Templum’ is a site powered by curiosity, connection, discussion, sound, dance, silence, meditation, and healing – the collective exploration of a community…

From 6 August - 22 September 2024, Kate Howe’s solo-exhibition the Templum transformed Orleans House Gallery’s Stables Gallery into a glowing temple of contemplation, open to wonder as time slows down.

Following Howe’s summer residency at Orleans House Gallery from 10 July, the exhibition opened during their final residency week (6 August) where visitors could experience the build and watch the space transform before opening as Howe’s solo-exhibition from 13 August.

During the exhibition, the Templum became a site for a robust programme of events and workshops:

On 17th August, music group Atmasfera performed a truly transcendent Kirtan in the Templum; a practice of call and response singing which originated in ancient Hindu communities. This was followed by Artist Talks and workshops lead by Howe: Expanding Your Practice workshop on 21 August, where Howe and Sally Minns shared what they have learned about life in the generative. Howe then lead a Meditation Walk workshop on 31 August in which participants ventured into the Orleans House woods and learned basic meditation techniques.

In the penultimate week of the exhibition, composer of the Templum’s sound piece, Crucible of Breath and Metal, Nick Parkin performed a live soundscape deep within the Templum’s core on Saturday 7 September, filling the space with immersive and atmospheric sound, that vibrated through the structure. Throughout the evening visitors moved throughout the space, sitting, meditating, moving.

Nick performed again from midday on Sunday 8 September, accompanying internationally renowned Butoh choreographer Marie-Gabrielle Rotie and Butoh performer Yumino Seki, who, responding to the space and each other, performed three very intimate and moving Butoh performances. It was wonderful to witness audiences, both young and old, left stunned through the power of these incredible performances. In such close, intimate capacity with the dancers, we experienced a collective sensation of catharsis, leaving viewers stunned into silence, emerging from their own deep journey within, before leaving the Templum.

At the Finissage of the Templum, on Saturday 14th September, Nick, Marie-Gabrielle and Yumino performed again, throughout the afternoon and evening, before live Jazz from the Mood Indigo Trio filled the Orleans House Gallery coachhouse for the remainder of this special evening.

The exhibition was extended for a final week until 22 September, in which Howe and their team hosted final workshops: a 90 Minute Intimate Reading with Kate Howe, a Deep Relaxation workshop in the Templum’s main gathering space and Orleans House Gallery’s Let’s Create workshop in which Howe and their team lead families in creative material exploration.

The Templum was deinstalled on 23 & 24 September 2024. Thank you to those who’ve visited and wandered the Templum’s many paths. The response has been breathtaking - smashing attendance records for Orleans House Gallery exhibitions. We’ve been overwhelmed by the positive feedback; described by visitors as the best exhibition they’ve seen at the gallery, eager to know where the Templum will appear next. Please stay in contact through our newsletter, channels and Kate’s Substack, and when the next opportunity presents itself we will let you know. We are actively searching for a partner to help us find a larger venue where we can produce a “durational performative residency/build” that allows the general public to be a larger part of the build process.