there is a wonderland, ill meet you there a rabbit hole project for immediate release: may 21 2012 adidas is proud to announce its latest supporting venture there is a wonderland, ill meet you there created by internationally comprised creative think tank the rabbit hole. This marks the rabbit holes third installment in an expanding series of initiatives. During a 14 day pilgrimage 7 international artists will examine the nature of connectivity through a series of site specific events as they traverse the borders, languages, and religions that disconnect us. Starting in Barcelona and making their way ultimately to Tel Aviv the participants will reconnect by disconnecting, tapping into more universal sensibilities like the senses, what the group call magic consciousness, and like the birds in the Fariduddin Attars Sufi fable The Conference of the Birds relying on their wit and the power of improvisation to tell the stories of the places theyve been as these stories unfold in real time. On June 13th, the 7 travelers will board a train in Barcelona and make their way across Europe and down to the Middle East, along the way making 2 day layovers in Paris, Berlin, a village in Eastern Europe (to be decided upon during the journey), Bucharest, Istanbul and finally Tel Aviv. In each of these host cities interactive arts events and happenings will be generated. The purpose of this journey and its events is to seduce our senses and challenge the way we perceive and connect to the people, places and the things around us. One event will be linked to the next turning the journey into a chain which will offer a stage for larger dialogues and idea generation. In conjunction with these happenings audience members will be given the chance to sign up and participate in the connectivity investigation receiving online telegrams from the rabbit hole as they receive insights and tell the story, as well as clues to offline meet ups in their cities. Video documentation will be supplied by Tendencias Tv and a series of online clues regarding the locations and times of related events will be posted by The rabbit hole. Audience members are encouraged to leave their comments, and become a part of the over all process. The unfolding events of the journey will be experienced as an engaging online and offline process, full of riddles, mysterious clues, mousetraps and red keys, all trade mark methodologies of the rabbit hole. The rabbit hole and adidas adidas is all in for this journey, and believes this rabbit hole project puts into action a shared set of values and passion for enabling others to explore their own creativity and their world. The goal of exploring the ways we connect to the world, inspiring in others a deeper understanding of the essence of this relation, and investigating the stone often left unturned is tantamount to the ideals adidas supports. The projects theme is about essence. Provoking essence, capturing essence. A crystal sparkle that connects us, a core essence that passes through us, a magic moment, a coincidence. Our quest is to illuminate it, capture it, communicate it. Traveling from Western Europe to Eastern Europe and then the Middle East, a land once connected, fluid, has been challenged by paradigms like politics, economics, religion. We will unravel this, exploring connectivity and tapping into essence.-Samina Virani, Founder of the rabbit hole. Participants and Timeline Artists participating:

Gandja Monteiro. Filmmaker, Rio. http://gandjamonteiro.com/ Miguel Cardenas. Professor MFA Columbia University. Bogota. http://www.miguelcardenas.net Nico Iliev. Photographer, New York. http://www.nicoiliev.com A connection is a spark. It requires motion and friction. Its how our senses mysterious emit emotion. Anna Zoe Schmidt. Author. Berlin http://annazoeschmidt.net They say the soul travels at 8 kilometers per hour. Some call that jet lag, I call that life. As a singing writer, performing philosopher and professional dreamer, I travel around the globe, discovering what is the glue that connects us with each other and the world. Love is my catalyst in my work on stage, on paper and on screen. On this journey my research will be on cultural authenticity and emotional freedom, through storytelling and performing. Samina Virani. Founder of the rabbit hole. http://www.saminavirani.com This journey itself has been inspired by a number of philosophies, namely a poem called The Conference of the Birds by Farid Ud-din Attar. However, the archetypal nature of a journey has been present in fables throughout time. The mystics, the Gnostics, the situationists, even children`s cartoon heroes have embarked on journeys, crusades, in the quest of a mystical ethereal discovery. Noahs Ark, tales of Ibn Arabi, Enid Blytons famous 5 and of course, little Alice. A journey using the senses to explore real connectivity between humans. Its about magical realism. Theres no such thing as coincidences. We are looking for a formula to understand that. Final 2 participants to be announced. The creative process: the crystal express blog: 6 weeks leading up to the journey, the 7 artists are required to connect for creative cathartic sessions and dialogue on the Crystal Express blog. Lead by the rabbit holes founder, Samina Virani, who places carrot posts of provocation to inspire the creative process, the blog is a space for the artists to collaborate on the theme through insights, literary references and storytelling, enhancing the creative quality and outcome of the journey. Each of the artists is associated with a character (white rabbit, queen of hearts, the dragon). Literary references include Michel Foucault, Lewis Carroll, Ibn Arabi, Jorge Luis Borges, and Farid Ud-din Attar. Travel Itinerary: Barcelona- 13/06 kick-off event The Crystal Ball. An evening of experiential games before boarding the train, created by the Rabbit Holes founder Samina Virani and Carlos Calvo, member of Barcelona based theater company Teatro de los Sentidos (http://www.teatrodelossentidos.com) Paris- 14/06 Berlin- 16/06 Hungary (location to be announced)-19/06 Bucharest- 21/06 Istanbul- 24/06 Tel Aviv- 26/06 The project will finally culminate in an exhibition in New York of documentation and art works produced during the journey; as well as with a final film directed by participating filmmaker Gandja Monteiro. Dates and location to be announced. How to follow the white rabbit Getting into the first event, The Crystal Ball as well as any of the rabbit holes experiences along the journey is an engaging online and offline process. A series of mysterious clues, mouse traps, red keys, puzzles and codes will create games during the journey, intensifying the online-offline awareness and experience of it. These games and puzzles will pass from one city to the next, linking all 7 along with audience members through the projects interactive experiential activities.

Among online clues, look out for mousetraps which relay a temporary website and password to sign up, participate in the connectivity investigation and based upon-approval will lead to information about limited-capacity meet ups in the city: www.101010n.com (website goes live 24/05/2012) password: crystals 14 postcards: Those who have signed up online will receive 14 postcards from the rabbit hole while on the journey photos, video, insights, anything they fancy to share that creates a powerful connection with the cities, with the audience, and with their discoveries. Behind the Project the rabbit hole: Founded in New York City by Samina Virani, the rabbit hole is an invite only hand-picked community of highly influential creative thinkers. Members represent 42 nations and come from a wide array of professional backgrounds including filmmakers, fashion designers, architects, curators and magicians. The rabbit holes core ethos is to create provocative interactive experiences to deconstruct discourses and inspire new meanings. A theme such as time is selected, then deconstructed, and reinvented through playfully artistic processes. These provocations have occurred at the Chelsea Art Museum, on board a 14 hour moving yellow double decker bus in New York City, a catamaran in the Mediterranean Sea, now a transnational rail across Europe and the Middle East. It all began in 2008 in New York City. A serendipitous accident of sorts, where a Soho loft full of personalities and creators were in desperation of reinventing forms and discovering new meanings. Our common bond has been a belief and a commitment to a search for a more magical, ethereal quality that links our spirits- Samina Virani. Founder of the Rabbit Hole About the Founder Samina Virani (www.saminavirani.com) anthropologist, trend consultant,curator, the white rabbit. Creator and chief instigator of the rabbit hole Samina Virani is a culture journalist and urban anthropologist investigating social trends and behaviors across the Americas, Europe and parts of Asia. As a journalist, she has written for several international publications including Time Out, Wallpaper, British Airways High Life, and served as the editor-in-chief of Time Out Istanbul. As a trends consultant, she has analyzed global cultural movements for WGSN, Sky TV, Channel 4, most recently working as a trained Cultural Fluent for Iconoculture. She teaches these metholodologies at the Institute of European Design in Barcelona. Her recent studies at the Theater of the Senses have enhanced the curation projects of the rabbit hole. Participating sponsors involved with this project:

Iconoculture CEB - a global consumer research and advisory firm masterminding the value of market trends, observations and values-based motivations. The social-anthropological thesis of the project will be presented as a research work to Iconoculture.

Credits: Director: Samina Virani. Creators: Samina Virani, Anna Zoe Schmidt. Producer: Rica Amaral Barcelona Producer: Carlos Calvo Designer: Andrea Guimet Associate Designer: Lisa Del Monte Communications: Samina Virani City Hosts: Frederik Reubens, Karel Sulam, Irmak Canevi, Nir Segal. Special thanks to Tendencias TV Contacts: rabbit hole requests: Rica Amaral, producer rica@101010n.com. Samina Virani, founder samina@101010n.com adidas requests: Marcus Knupp, pr-assistant, hberlein & mauerer, marcus.knupp@haebmau.de