For the 3rd year running, Mandin collective assembled from the corners of the globe to Coney Woods in the heart of the Leicestershire countryside for Noisily Festival of Music and Arts 2019! Tasked with the design and build of the Mind Stage as part of the  ‘Mind, Body and Soul’ Area expansion, we took inspiration from our surroundings and the theme of Human Connection.

The Mind Stage is made for exploring the inner realms of your psyche, to discuss and relate what you feel to that of your fellow human. We wanted to create something that feels very intuitive, incorporating organic forms and considered the state of mind that people would be in during talks from the likes of Bruce Perry and Extinction Rebellion, as well as during contemporary sitar concerts and kirtan sessions from OmniVibes and the Hanuman Project. 

After pooling our collective consciousness together, we concluded on The Ensō Stage! Building on the form and meaning of the Ensō symbol in Zen Buddhism, the fallen and discarded branches of the surrounding forest themselves came together to form a stage that symbolised the unity within nature and humans. A flowing loop of natural architecture, enclosing the speaker within a ring of the natural world, representing the thoughts from the minds of the speaker and the participants and the freedom of the flow between them facilitated by the space.

We would like to extend our deepest thanks to all those who helped us out in the preparation and construction, particularly the Noisily Team who gave us the opportunity, Paul, Milo and Marley (Mandin Mandem for life) and everyone who came and took part in the festival!