Not to be Senseless is a playground for the senses, focused on and from the
neurodivergent experience, and where concepts connect to consciousness
about diverse needs.
Hosted by the Synaesthesia Research Group at Macquarie University and proudly presented by Journey Through The Senses as main sponsor, this vibrant community meetup brought researchers, synaesthetes, artists, students, and curious minds together for an immersive celebration of synaesthesia and blended perception.
Not to be Senseless is a playground for the senses, focused on and from the neurodivergent experience.
In collaboration with Journey Through The Senses.
This is a place where you can take your inner world seriously, in the most playful way. We’ll learn about wellbeing and sensory processing, hear Zoe perform, and make art — with a tote bag as your canvas for the day.The day will also include a pop-up gallery wall, pastries and hot drinks, opportunities to connect with new people and a curated goodie bag for every participant
In collaboration with Journey Through The Senses.
Of Earth and Quill is a visionary opera by Helen Epega (The Venus Bushfires) that reimagines how stories survive. Through African percussion, operatic voice and vivid visual worlds, she invites audiences on a multisensory journey of sound, colour and
belonging. The work asks: how do we honour the past while shaping the future?
Featuring Pianist Dr Jenny Chai
In collaboration with Journey Through The Senses
On September 14, 2025, join the vibrant community of Shanghai at the WB CENTRAL for a pioneering event where music and social responsibility unite. This unique evening, led by Dr. Jenny Q Chai and the talented students of FaceArt Institute of Music, brings together the power of innovative classical music with heartfelt compassion to raise awareness and support for stray animals in need.
Please see below to find articles about VOICES FOR LOVE: THE FOR DOGS CONCERT from Cosmopolitan China and Bazaar Lifestyle China:
http://m.bazaar.com.cn/bazaarlifestyle/2025/0917/350860.shtml
https://www.cosmopolitancn.com/fashion/detail/44252
‘Not to be Senseless’ is a stage for neurodivergent art with people and pieces that experience and explore neurodivergencies such as synaesthesia, savantism and autism. This accessible event opens up new perspectives by recognising differences in how we sense the world. Organized by iii in collaboration with Journey Through the Senses and Rewire. Curated by Maria Oosterveen.
In collaboration with Journey Through The Senses.
Participants will be invited to a smelling experience exploring the inner landscape of synaesthetic experience. They will be guided into sensing and colour matching 16 perfumery materials which they will colour code and then mix into a rose solid perfume. The perfumes will be played by the electronic nose.
Workshop 'Smells like Roses', 3 hour workshop exploring synaesthesia through the power of synthetics and molecules created from petro chemicals to make intersensory illusions.
www.satellite2.co.nz/raewyn-turner.html
www.raewynturner.com
A collaboration with Journey Through The Senses and Supported by PRS Foundation Composer's Fund and Ladbroke Hall.
Join us on Wednesday, 20th November 2024, at t Ladbroke Hall for Sounds of Us UK, a groundbreaking, immersive live performance by The Venus Bushfires (Helen Epega). This unique experience weaves together British and African stories through an exquisite fusion of music, culture, art, and sensory exploration.
Helen Epega, experiences musical notes as colours (a form of synesthesia) and she brings her creative process to the forefront of Sounds of Us UK. As the audiesnce listens to the ethereal sounds of the hang, African percussion, Western classical instruments, and meditative vocals, you will be invited to reflect your emotional responses visually.
Using the pastels and canvas provided, you'll paint in real time, translating your personal experience of the music into vibrant artwork that reflects both individual and collective creativity.
The evening will begin with a talk by James Wannerton (President of Journey Through the Senses and UKSA). James will explore the wonders of synaesthesia and take questions from attendees.
An evening that stimulates the senses and explores neurodivergencies.
A collaboration with iii and Journey Through The Senses, ‘Not to be Senseless" is a stage for neurodivergent art; with people and pieces that experience and explore neurodivergencies such as synaesthesia, savantism and autism. The evening opens up new perspectives by recognising differences in how we sense the world.
An evening of synaesthetic music and visuals.
Visualflux is a Live Cinema performance by the a.cinema ensemble, based on the legacy of abstract cinema and visual-music pioneers, reinterpreting their poetic universes in terms of contemporary aesthetic and technical challenges. As in all fields of art, the 1960s were fertile years in abstract cinema creations, pointing to poetic and imagetic possibilities that fed the experimental imagination of the following decades. Taking as reference Peter Kubelka's "flickering cinema", the organic and psychedelic colors of the Joshua Light Show, the hypnotic mandalas of the brothers James and John Whitney, -- all of them founding references for contemporary Live-Cinema practices -- in Visualflux, a.cinema provides an immersion in high-voltage multisensory environment, where music overflows into cinema, and cinema overflows into sound.
A collaboration with iii and Journey Through The Senses, ‘Not to be Senseless’ is a stage for neurodivergent art; with people and art pieces that allow us to experience and explore neurodivergence such as synaesthesia, savantism and autism. The evening opens up new perspectives by recognising differences in how we sense the world.
To echo the different worlds of the neurodivergent, this edition of the event will focus on the sensorial experience of touch. Laura Dima will be exploring the politics of touch through wearable devices that simulate touch between physically separated individuals. Ludmilla Rodrigues will be sharing her pressure-based experiments with inflatables. Jenny Konrad will round off the evening with a talk about self stimulation and the role this plays in neurodivergent thinking.
Society is still restricted in its knowledge and acceptance of neurodivergence, with neurodivergent people often being seen as difficult. This makes it important to create a moment where neurodivergence gets a place to be seen and respected and that neurodivergence is a strength that shows us our world in a different light.
Journey Through the Senses (in a collaboration) supported Maike Preissing with the anniversary event of the “Synesthesia Podcast” on Feb 24th at Metropol Cinema Innsbruck, right in the heart of the Alps. At the event, attendees watched a recording of Pete Carruthers's theatre play “The Possibility of Colour.” After the screening, there was a special panel with Pete Carruthers (Playwright), Maike Preißing (Podcast Host), and also James Wannerton (President of JTTS & UKSA). Each member of the audience received a goody bag with products sponsored by Lush and Flareaudio, stimming toys, and some awesome art by Zoe NG and Helena Chywski.
Journey Through The Senses is pleased to be a key contributor to this inspiring exhibition- A Taste of Synaesthesia.
In collaboration with Brunel University London in celebration of the 2023 Artist in Residence.
UK Synaesthesia Association and journeythroughthesenses
Presented on the evening of October 20th at Instrument Inventors Initiative in the Hague.
‘Not to be Senseless’ is a stage for neurodivergent art; with people and pieces that experience and explore neurodivergencies such as synaesthesia, savantism, and autism. The evening opens up new perspectives by recognizing differences in how we sense the world.
Society is still restricted in its knowledge and acceptance of neurodivergency, with neurodivergent people often being seen as difficult. This makes it important to create a moment where neurodivergencies get a place to be seen and respected. To show that neurodivergencies are a strength that shows us our world in a different light.
To echo the different worlds of the neurodivergent, this event will also highlight different senses, including smell, sound, touch, and proprioception.
Join us on October 9th at Mikrokosmos restaurant in Berlin for a groundbreaking sensory fusion event where experimental cuisine meets synesthetic sound! Experience unique tastings from Mikrokosmos’ sustainable kitchen, matched with a live performance of renowned multimodal artist Portrait XO, translating flavors into sounds based on their auditory-gustatory synesthesia.
“Synaesthesia for Design: Common Ground or Terra Incognita?” is a panel discussion presented by Journey Through The Senses & Nairobi Design. What can design theory and practice derive from congenital synesthesia? Manifestations of synesthesia are consistent, immersive, purpose-driven, and experiential. There are many more synesthetes among artists and many synesthetes choose creativity as careers or leisure time activities. Numerous types of congenital synesthesia span all the human senses and embrace language, sound, social, and other cognitive elements. How can non-synesthetes tap into synesthesia’s so much-venerated experiential benefits? Are there nonspeculative inroads into its efficient practical applications beyond inspiration and mimicry?
A multi sensory, interactive performance exploring the phenomena of Synesthesia through Dance. Learn about Synesthesia while celebrating neurodiversity through art and movement.
Featuring San Diego based professional dancers and meet and greet with choreographer and Poly- Synesthete, Zoe Marinello-Kohn. Following the performance, stay a while and socialize with the performers with a refreshment!
Marina WitteMann, being a synesthete, feels the world a little deeper and more fully than the other persons, she sees in color the emotional states of surrounding people, vivid experiences, pain, anger and euphoria. That is why the works presented at the exhibition strive to break out of the framework of generally accepted art forms. That which had no volume, breaks through the two-dimensional space, color acquires shape, paper — texture, depth. Each work at the exhibition is an outspoken image formed through the prism of the artist’s perception, through the fusion of several sensory levels at once.
A live piano and ballet concert. Featuring concert Pianist, Svetlana Rudenko, and professional Ballerina, Zoe Marinello-Kohn, the event will take place on March 20th, at the Whale Theater just outside of Dublin, Ireland and during Brain Awareness Week.
Moscow's Spectacular New Museum, GES-2 House Of Culture:
Piano and ensemble with Intermedia Concert on January 1, 2022 - Shanghai, China
