On the first Saturday of each month Abbas Zahedi hosts a support group for the collective processing of ecological grief. In collaboration with thinkers, artists and musicians, participants are invited to consider ‘How can we make sense of a world increasingly shaped by loss and disconnection?’.
The discussions take place in a new commission entitled Begin Again. As part of the installation, instruments and playback devices have been plugged into Tate Modern’s utility pipes and deeper architecture. The sound composition shifts between moments of harmony and disintegration. Each sonic collapse prompts the piece to rebuild, emphasising the power of renewal and beginning again.
The commission creates a space for collective listening and discussion where participants can reflect on how to protect and restore ecological connectivity.
Begin Again is part of the exhibition Gathering Ground which explores threatened ecologies.
Join Abbas Zahedi, Camille Sapara Barton and Sally Davies for a conversation on tending to grief.
Camille Sapara Barton
Camille Sapara Barton is a writer, consultant, embodiment facilitator and movement artist. Their practice creates relational wellbeing by increasing connection to the body, care, grief and imagination, exploring how oppression can be re-patterned to move towards life sustaining practices. Rooted in Black Feminism, ecology and harm reduction, Sapara Barton’s approach combines somatics, dance and trauma-informed practices. They are the author of Tending Grief: Embodied Rituals for Holding Our Sorrow and Growing Cultures of Care in Community (2024).
Sally Davies
Sally Davies worked as an NHS psychiatrist and psychotherapist for 20 years, leaving in 2017 to pursue clowning and poetry. She created Queer Family Cabaret, a workshop exploring play’s therapeutic potential. Davies currently uses clown and tarot to create connection and community, devising tarot decks using London’s historical characters and psycho-geography.
Abbas Zahedi
Abbas Zahedi engages with systems of care, thresholds of experience, and the creation of communal spaces for dialogue. Often uniting personal narratives and broader collective concerns, his work uses sound and materiality as conduits for reflection and connection. Zahedi is an Associate Lecturer at the Royal College of Art, London.
The support group session is drop-in and will last 120 minutes. You can join and leave at any point during the session.
This event is live audio captioned.
There will be fluctuations in sound levels, including high and low frequencies.
Spaces will be reserved for wheelchair users and companions. Please let us know if you would like a space reserved for you by emailing community@tate.org.uk.
You will be seated for the support group. Seats are hard. Some soft-floor seating will also be set up. You are also welcome to move around the space, and leave and return, during the session.
The support group takes place in the Gathering Ground exhibition, on Level 4 in the Natalie Bell Building at Tate Modern. All Tate Modern entrances are step-free. You can enter via the Turbine Hall and into the Natalie Bell Building on Holland Street, or into the Blavatnik Building on Sumner Street.
There are lifts to every floor of the Blavatnik and Natalie Bell buildings. Alternatively you can take the stairs.
- Fully accessible toilets are located on every floor on the concourses.
- A quiet room is available to use in the Natalie Bell Building on Level 4.
- Ear defenders can be borrowed from the Ticket desks.
To help plan your visit to Tate Modern, have a look at our visual story. It includes photographs and information about what you can expect from a visit to the gallery.
For more information before your visit:
- Email hello@tate.org.uk
- Call +44 (0)20 7887 8888 (daily 10.00–17.00)
