COLLECTIVE CREATIVE CYCLES

NB: the next cohort begins by summer 2026. The programme is divided into two programmes building on to one another. The first is a 5 week virtual course diving deep into creative cycles giving language, tools and excercises for each of the four phases. This one is great for basic support for artistic and academic practioners. The second is an in-person retreat where group sharing, individual mentoring and deep dives into emotional aspects of art practicing gives the framework for Caring Feedback sessions where each participant gets in-depth feedback on their research, practice or project.

This page describes the last group programme running from 2023-25. Have a look! Sign up for the waiting list by writing to connect@sidselnelund.com. Yeah! See CCC 2023-25 participant and curator Rebekka Anker-Møller’s appreciation post on LinkedIn here.

A Group Programme to support your artistic, curatorial and academic process from seed to blossom and back again

Crafted for 8 cyclical beings (longing to be) living in sync with their inner and outer cycles to lead sustainable creative lives and bring those magical visions into realisation out there. Beginning 10th of October 2pm-5pm CET and running for ten months.

Looking to be less alone and yet self propelled with your work?

COLLECTIVE CREATIVE CYCLES begins with an in-depth vision session, moves through a YES to what is being crafted and ends with a celebration of your creative cyclical being. Throughout there will be season aligned cyclical teachings, yoga nidra, collective deep processes, meditation, fun, break through creating excercises, space for the ups and downs of it all, collective work sessions and much more. Always also intimate time and space to share insights, questions, process and learn from the diversity of experiences in the group.

Every second Tuesday of the month 1:45-4:45PM CET via ZOOM.

Main facilitation language is English. As safe expression is highly valued within COLLECTIVE CREATIVE CYCLES, there is always the chance to voice yourself in Danish with translation on the spot.

Inbetween sessions you have access to follow up excercises, check-in options, a monthly co-working session and possibilities to share.

Yes! Sign me up.

A special feature of this programme is that during each session, one participant will bring their vision to the group and have 45 minutes just for them to go into depth with their vision and its intention in intimate conversation with programme leader and experienced teacher, academic, writer and human being, Sidsel Nelund, and the group. This is intended for you be held safely in collective presence with the result of diving into the depth of your longing and for the group to learn from example and hold the intention and vision of each person within the group energy. Collective, caring support and trust in its unfolding. This is magic!

This is a powerful, collective road to your particular cyclical way of being and doing making its impact in the world.

Yay!

We want to see more of you!

Investment: 600DKK per month or 6000DKK for the full package.

Early bird before October 3rd: 5500DKK for the full package.

Super early bird before August 22nd: 5000DKK for the full package!

Me too!

More details below, but first a sunset and a pause:

COLLECTIVE CREATIVE CYCLES in brief:

In a powerful mix between cyclical living, supportive collective space, creative refinement and fear facing exercises, COLLECTIVE CREATIVE CYCLES takes you through 10 months of working on a project in sustainable, soft and solid ways.

Programme content:

The bone structure of COLLECTIVE CREATIVE CYCLES is a monthly three-hour collective session in which we go through the process of establishing a strong cyclical creative practice through teachings, exercises, yoga nidra and lots of space to share, ask and reflect. We will encounter both the societal and personal foundations of creativity and cyclical living together with core practices and capacities like saying YES and NO, celebrating, envisioning, tracking, caring, claiming and spotting the gaps between what the art world can offer and what you need together with how to fulfill your needs. There will be fear facing moments, grief and parts of this process is the powerful experience of being held in collective emotional processing of the ups and downs that will inevitably arise in any creative practice.

What makes this programme special is the tight container around a small group of eight professional and profound people, who each have the opportunity to share their idea, vision or project and get specific, caring feedback on it. The power of the programme is how the group becomes a nurturing field for your project to grow and how the group holds collectively the intention of each project trusting in its path.

Designed to support YOU!
support the world

Expect a full experience

This work is deep. Many art workers have experienced the damaging effects of working in an art system that favours productivity over contemplation leading for many to stress and burnout. Likewise, many have experienced abuse and violence in those structures that inhibit creative expression and voice. That is, many distort their creative expression to fulfill systemic expectations. To fully make a project bloom, it is often needed to face and grieve those damaging, systemic abuses. This leads to renewed strength and power to move towards the completion of projects that are truthful to themself and the world through being truthful to you.

DISCLAIMER: To reach the results that COLLECTIVE CREATIVE CYCLES makes possible, it takes hard work and full commitment. Presence in each monthly session is mandatory and so is it to show up with curiosity, honesty, willingness to do excercises and when not, speaking openly about it. We are in it together and your presence matters.

The power of doing it together is unmatched (and less lonely<3). You can do this!

I want this. Sign me up.

COLLECTIVE CREATIVE CYCLES is a PAUSE, a pause to collectively process what it means to be an art worker - for good and for worse - and to strategise for how to do it differently. It is a PAUSE to bring in sustainability, reflection, visions, calmness together with the fierce energy of showing up in the world and being in service of both yourself, art and the future.

This is for you if you want to:

-be held in the ups and downs of a creative process

-have consistent accountability structures

-be inspired by group power and learn from other creative processes

-get into the depth of the energies of your creative cycle

-want to realise an idea or a project that really matters to you

-deepen your cyclical ways of living

COLLECTIVE CREATIVE CYCLES is for curators, artist, academics, writers, critics, performers and this programme is also for you if you are an activists, social workers with a creative drive and everyday creatives, in short, the programme is for serious minds and hands that have a purpose with what they are bringing forth and a purpose with doing so within a creative framework.

CCC CONTENT

The programme content for COLLECTIVE CREATIVE CYCLES is designed like a wave to wash over you and cleanse the space to make room for the good stuff. You find a description of each module here:

This first module focuses on foundations. We will get to know each other – who are we? – and prepare the collective for the journey ahead with guidelines and prospects. Expectations, intentions, worries, joy, celebration, there will be space for all.

Next comes a preparatory moment for the ten months ahead of us with the intention of all getting the most out of the time together.

Last, there will be a guided vision session in which you get a chance to re-aqaint yourself with your vision and refine it with precision.
The second module continues the topic of foundations and we get into the ecology of cyclical living and key practices for you to explore throughout the year. There will be a deepening of the intersection of several cycles; creative, sleep, menstrual, emotional etc.

It is also time to take an honest look at what prevents cyclical living and creative life in current society. What are the dynamics and structures? What are the fears, built-in shame and societal cliches around cyclical living and creative life? And how do the two areas intersect?

In a break through creating exercise, you will look at the founding messages you have received about cyclical living and creative life and how they work you now.

And then, we welcome the first Visionary and dive into their vision. Yay!
Module 3 goes into details about tracking cycles with tips and methods of what to track and how. Cyclical awareness starts building up. This module also contains a ‘My values for a creative, cyclical life’-exercise that serves to support direction and decision-making power for everyday and professional life. This also entails emotional agility and intelligence, which we will cover in relation to how they support a value driven way of living and working. There will be tips and time for you to explore how to move towards your values.

And then, we welcome the second Visionary and dive into their vision. Yay!
Module 4 takes up the crucial – and difficult! - task of localizing the impossible dreams that often operate at a subconscious level about the art world or your creative profession. Through specially designed exercises, your impossible dreams surface making it possible to identify the gaps between wishful thinking and reality. A result of such work is to restore agency to oneself and move focus to one’s own work, desires and purpose rather than the impasse of looking for what does not exist in the art world. Tough, yet extremely powerful.

And then, we welcome the third Visionary and dive into their vision. Yay!
What is claiming? Claiming has to do with boundaries and Module 5 dives deep into the Power of NO. You will explore what boundaries you need to put, how to put them and what to do to maintain them. This last part is where the muscle needs training; maintaining boundaries both with oneself and others. It is the shift from prioritizing other people’s needs to exhaust oneself and stand up for one’s own full, cyclical and creative self to be an inspiration, permission giver and game changer in your community. You will be fully prepared for what to do when misunderstandings, resistance and much more come your way as this shift slowly moves into action. Phew, this one.

And then, we welcome the fourth Visionary and dive into their vision. Yay!
What is care? Having trained the boundary muscle of NO, Module 6 opens to the caring space that creates safety, grounding and the power of YES. What to do in that space? How to do it? You will leave with concrete and further developed ideas and practices for selfcare and collective care that fit your reality. And most importantly, the muscles of emotional agility, compassion and space holding practices will be underlying it all. The intention is to face the fears that hold selfcare back to create enough safety to say YES.

And then, we welcome the fifth Visionary and dive into their vision. Yay!
With boundaries and care in place, all seems to fine, right? But, there’s never ceasing existence of the critical voice that will tell you all the difficult truths and if it’s a strong one (which I see from experience it is for a lot of visionaries!), it can be debilitating, even destructive. The good news is that when living cyclically, this critical force has a place in the cycle and learning to place it where it belongs and give it something meaningful stuff to chew on is the key to turn the critical voice into a driving force in your creative process. This is a game changer!

And then, we welcome the sixth Visionary and dive into their vision. Yay!
With the critical voice a little at bay being busy with what it is good at and in line with your process, there is more space to dream and envision. But what is dreaming? This one is the home for many visionaries, visions can under the right circumstances pop out all the time, yet with a busy life in survival mode and with potential fears of dreaming too big and too weird, then how to dream? We refine the activity of non-action time, lean into surrender and allow yourself to stop. Finally, we dream in the container of togetherness and see what magic arises!

And then, we welcome the seventh Visionary and dive into their vision. Yay!
What is potentising? Great question! In cyclical living, the act of coming full circle back to the starting point and with all the experience of having circled one full circle is a great portal to really boil down the essence of the process and the project. This potentizing moment is key to setting the tone for the next time around and is a place to also adjust energy levels, expectations and interactions. This session offers a collectively guided tour in your creative cycle and will bring all the elements of the programme together for you to embody them and go on living them. Yay!

And then, we welcome the eight Visionary and dive into their vision. Yay!
The programme is coming to a close, it’s time to celebrate and separate. It’s about how to honour what has happened and the braveness of you, your visions and the journey behind and ahead. It’s about how close, how to leave, how to step out … only to know where and when to step back in for the next time around.

At (art re.search) we are passionate about transforming the pain that comes along with being in the art world simply because it damages people and inhibits practices - practices and people that we firmly believe the world needs now. Here you find some of the beliefs that seem to invade artistic, curatorial, academic and creative lives and that we know are possible to change. In fact, we live them - not without bumbs and hardships, but we live them and love them.

Read the following and notice how each sentence lands in your body. See which version creates most stress and see which version lands well with calmness in you. What does it do to you take in the two versions and feel the potential difference in how they land in you?

1 If only I get to exhibit in xxx place, get xxx scholarship, am recognized by xxs person, am written about in xxx journal, receive a positive critic from xxx newspaper, is invited to xxx etc, I am a good artist/writer/curator/creative/academic

and

1 I am worthy in and of myself and so is my art and my work

2 Working in the art world is a struggle, where I need to exhaust myself and live in poverty to fulfill my desire of living an artistic/creative life

and

2 I live a calm and contented life in which I face the hardships that come my way and make choices according to my values while staying true to my artistic/curatorial/creative/academic expression

3 I need to tweak myself, please other, stay small, not make too much noise, dress accordingly and _______(fill in the blank) to be accepted by people in my profession

and

3 I am and have always been worthy of taking up space, be fully me and be true to my expression

4 I am scared to show up as who I am and with the work I really want to do

and

4 I can handle the fear that comes up in this process and I create structures that support me on the way

5 My work has no value and is serving no purpose, I need to do more of what people, systems and structures expect me to do

and

5 I serve a meaningful purpose in the ecology of the art world through my specific way of being and expressing. It is my utmost responsibility to keep serving this purpose alongside and in relationship with others who do the same. I show up for myself, my work and for the world with my work

6 Due to my otherness, I am unworthy, excluded and can as well just stop here

and

6 My experience and expression of otherness is what the world needs right now and that I voice the perspectives of my reality is what creates the prospect of what is to come

7 I am too slow, too sensitive, too in misalignment with a hyper active and hyper productive art world

and

7 I am who I am. My velocity is my velocity. My scale of production is my scale. By standing up for my way of doing things I play a valuable role in rolemodelling how things can also be

OLD BELIEF and NEW BELIEF :

(art re.search) is passionate about bringing to life the calmer versions in fully embodied ways!

Q&A

Below we’ve listed some of the most frequently asked questions, I hope they answer yours too and if not, I am ready to answer any queries via connect@sidselnelund.com

Collective Creative Cycles bring in knowledge and experience from multiple cycles, the menstrual cycle being one of them. Having a menstrual cycle will give an entry point to deepen your cyclical practice, yet with the ultradian, sleep, moon, seasonal and life cycles, you will have lots of entry points into cyclical living. And, being a creative being, you already have intimate knowing of that cycle to draw upon. The main thing is that you long to deepen your cyclical practices and ways of living.
Where there will be lots of cyclical living learnings and menstruality being part of this, Collective Creative Cycles is not a menstrual group programme, but a catered group programme for a creative process. If interested in a group programme specifically on menstruality, there are three options; bring together a group of people and I can make a group programme for you, sign up for 1:1 sessions with me or email me for tips on other menstruality mentors who could provide such a programme.
You will be expected to show up for the monthly group sessions, where your presence is important for the group process to flourish. Apart from that, there will be offerings of monthly accountability, check in and working sessions that will be helpful for your process and are intended to support it and you. There will also be optional exercises to deepen the process and more than anything, the group programme will leak into your creative practice more as an awareness that you bring with you.
Collective Creative Cycles works well having a specific project you’re working on, yet it is also a container for an idea or the urge to allow the idea to arise. The most important thing is that you are driven by your work and have something you want to nurture, bring through, reach, express etc.
All genders are welcome. There will be talk about menstrual cycles, so be willing to hear about, learn from and respect it.
All art world professions are welcome, curators, academics, writers, critics etc. My expertise is in visual arts and writing, yet, bordering professions will benefit from the general teachings on creative cycles and the many exercises and group conversations on creative processes. The most important thing is that you have a purposeful drive or project that involves creative expression. Experience shows that both early career art workers and late seasoned art workers benefit from one another (like the phases of a cycle need one another to step forth in their singularity) and my hope is that all ages and a diversity of practices, backgrounds and people will fill the air.
Absolutely not, you are welcome and should 1:1 sessions be attractive, you will get a special pricing as long as you are a course participant.
I strongly recommend participants to join all sessions and yet, life can’t always submit. A recording will be available after and as long as you are committed to the group experience, it will all work out.
Whereas the group programme most likely will be healing, it is not therapy. There might be traumatic moments that arise, yet, the intention is not to heal the trauma as it happened there and then (like therapy), but to hold space for how it is influencing the creative practice here and now. We stay in the here and now. It is always recommended to seek a therapist should there be unresolved trauma of the there and then that inhibits the work.

I'm ready to take my space. Sign me up!

Behind (art re.search) is Sidsel Nelund, PhD and an experienced leader, writer, academic, teacher and much more. My intention is to strengthen and deepen each process and practice with all the many tools I have for both listening to/fine tuning your vision and moving it to realization and beyond. I firmly believe in creative practices as a part of facing, dealing with and befriending an unknown future. I also believe the refinement of artistic and creative practices are well done in collectivity in which the power of support (supporting and being supported) makes each individual thrive in their specific personal qualities and capacities. I show up with trust, the capacity to sit with discomfort and deep listening skills that hears your potential.