Hearing Home
A Black Women+ Retreat
LOFUOHTA | LOFOTEN, NORWAY | SÁPMI
Summer retreat: August 4 - 10, 2024
And, available by request
About Hearing Home 2024
Hi! I’m Ro, and for this year’s retreat I will be joined by artist Amber Ablett to co-host a special iteration of Hearing Home, taking place on our own private lighthouse island of Skomvær, the last island out to sea in the Lofuohta/Lofoten archipelago.
On Skomvær we will be surrounded by nature and the wild North sea, on an island that is home to puffins, kittiwakes, rosebay willowherb, moses, lichen, yarrow and more. We invite you to join us here, in a place that offers peace, and roots us deeply into this planet through its breathtakingly wondrous nature and the extremes of its being: from 24 hours of darkness in the middle of winter to a full days of light in the summer, from wind-churned seas to calm waters stretching out in every direction.
During this retreat we will co-create a healing and unlearning space for Black women+ (Black women, femme folk, nb/genderqueer folk) fighting for social justice in their corners of the world, in their ways, in their selves, and who need a moment, or five, to breathe and be with one another.
These are tenuous, tumultuous times, and we cannot ignore the need deep in our bones to create a space for women+ like us to be. To create, to thrive in community, to feel our feet in the chilly sea as the midnight sun warms our brown skin, to learn, to heal.
This retreat and spaces like it are even more imperative given the isolation Covid-19 has required, the disproportionately negative effects of the virus itself, and the isolation Black women+ experience globally. Now, more than ever, we need space to heal.
Our rest, rejuvenation, and restoration is * vital * and non-negotiable.
And, as Black women+, we belong. Wherever we are.
Please fill the above form prior to payment of deposit or registration!
ABOUT RO
In Ro’s ongoing process of learning Norwegian, one of the phrases that they felt deeply immediately was "Jeg hører hjemme her."
Directly translated to English: "I hear home here." More precisely: I belong, here.
And so, Hearing Home Retreat was born.
Ro held the first Hearing Home in 2021 , and its genesis was inspired by Ro’s participation in the community of praxis group “Black Feminist Fridays: Nordic and Beyond.” They have hosted Hearing Home in Lofoten for two wonderful summers and they are so ready to recreate the space again this summer. After four years moving through the polar extents of the seasons in the north, Ro is so moved and pleased to be able to offer this space once more, and they hope you'll join in as they endeavour to provide the kind of space that she herself craves and needs, to belong in community, in this stilling, rousing place they hear, and call, home.
ABOUT AMBER
Amber was lucky enough to join Hearing Home in 2022 and immediately fell in love with Loftoten, Ro and the space they created. From the conversations the group shared, walks in the midnight sun to the gentle touches that invite rest: candle light, the smell of home made food and an inspiring library of books and music by Black women+ that accompanied us in the background.
Amber brings with her experiences from working on the artistic research project Hvileåret, (The Fallow Year in English). In this project, she has been inviting people to join her in looking at the role of rest as a tool for social change, as a space of reflection, evaluation, and resistance. Amber’s practice as an artist uses conversation, discussion, and sound as its medium and has been inspired and shaped by Gestalt Psychotherapy. Her work uses her experience as a Black mixed race woman of Irish, Trinidadian and British heritage to think collectively about how we navigate our multifaceted identities and sense of belonging.
RETREAT OVERVIEW
Hearing Home is a healing, unlearning retreat by and for Black women+.
Join us for one week together on Skomvær in Vest-Lofoten, with maximum 9 participants. The retreat will be held in English, however Ro and Amber understand and speak Norwegian. Other retreats may available in 2024 with Ro, please fill out this form to find out more.
Take part in writing, movement + breath, and mindful self-care workshops
Nurture a deep connection to nature
Indulge in healthy, home-cooked food and community meals
Take time and space to establish lasting healing practices in community
A typical retreat day:
Wake up early, and either join in the movement + breath session downstairs, have a cup of tea on the deck outside with a good book or walk down to the cove for a cool morning swim. Join the group for continental breakfast, and then prepare to get outside with nature: maybe some foraging, a led hike, or time in the organic vegetable garden.
In the late afternoon take part in a writing workshop or guided reflective writing space, or just take the time to rest a little while before dinner.
Dinner we will make as a group, and weather willing we’ll even be able to enjoy it outside as the sun beats down and glistens on the sea. After dinner, we’ll gather and spend quality time as a group (for those interested) and there will be an evening Yoga Nidra or Restorative Yoga class available to those who would like to wind down before bed.
This retreat is meant to be a space to restore in community, so there will always be options for how to spend your time, without pressure to join in.
The Space + Environs
This year we have been invited to take over a whole island, Skomvær. In the summer months, this lighthouse island hosts Røst Artist in Residence (Røst AIR) held by artist Elin Már Øyen Vister running since 2012.
Skomvær Lighthouse, half an hour’s boat ride from the main island of Røst is situated more than one hundred kilometres out into the Atlantic Ocean from the city of Bodø/Bådåddjo, and due to its remote placement, boasts a special Atlantic climate. The average temperature is 12+ in the summer and 4+ in the winter. Røst is part of the Lofot-Láfot mountain range and is within the county of Nordland: simultaneously Sábme and Northern Norway. Røst is ancient Sea Sámi land, which Røst AiR and Hearing Home honours, recognizes, and works in solidarity with.
We will be housed in the old lighthouse keeper's assistant house, a cultural heritage site built in 1887. We will be living close to nature with limited internet, electricity coming from solar panels and a generator and our water for washing coming from filtered rain water. The lighthouse has 8 bedrooms, an open kitchen for our communal meals and a cosy living room for rainy evenings, but even more important is the outside spaces! There are many spots to sit together around the fire pit or for a quiet moment alone, plus the tent sauna, lighthouse, boathouse, coastline and organic garden to explore.
*Unfortunately accessibility is limited, both in the house and getting to and from the island. The island is reached by a small passenger boat or RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) so is sadly not set up for those with mobility aids. Please also be aware that Skomvær is located far from emergency services such as hospitals and fire stations. Please send Ro an email at ro@unlrnprjct.com if you have questions/concerns about accessibility during the retreat!
** There is one bathroom with a shower and sink. The two compost toilets are just outside the house in the next building. Also, you are welcome to pee in the garden as we do not look at urine as waste, but as a resource!
Transportation + Getting Here:
You will need to find your own way to Røst where Ro or Amber will meet you at the harbour to take a small passenger boat or RIB to Skomvær. This last leg of the travel is included in the retreat price.
We invite you to consider the environmental impact of your travel and find the most green travel you can within your means, taking into consideration time and money.
The most straightforward way to get to Røst is to either take the train or fly to Bodø (BOO) and take the ferry (free for passengers without a car. Ferry times updated at www.reisnordland.no and www.torghatten-nord.no), or to fly to Røst (RET) where we can arrange a taxi to take you to the harbour.
The retreat runs from Sunday 4th to Saturday 10th August and we recommend travelling on Saturday the 3rd and Sunday 11th to ensure that there are no disruptions due to weather.
The Community + Co-Creation
A large part of building community together will be taking part in practice, learning, and unlearning together.
Community is at the heart of Hearing Home. We will have ample space and time to ourselves to reflect and be in stillness alone, but the central component of Hearing Home is to build community with one another.
Our main evening meal will be a practice of collaboration, community, sharing, and living into our joy through the preparation and partaking of good, home-cooked food together.
Retreat Offerings and Practices
**Please note: all sessions will be trauma-informed and made accessible, especially movement + mindfulness sessions
Daily Early Morning movement (Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Yin, Meditation, Pranayama)
Ro holds yoga trainings in the Ashtanga lineage as well as Yin and Trauma-Informed yoga. Each morning there will be an hour-long opportunity to move the body and awaken the mind with some yoga asana, pranayama, and meditation. As we will likely have active days whenever the weather allows, these sessions will not be overly strenuous.
Writing Workshop
this will be an opportunity to work on your writing with the group, whether you’re just starting to write, or have a project in progress, whether you write academically or you journal for self-reflection
share and workshop ideas, receive feedback, share and receive techniques and tools, and more.
Guided Reflective Writing Space
this will focus specifically on writing for self-care and self-reflection, prompts will be given and a relaxing space will be created to reflect in community, with an opportunity at the end of the session to share with one another what has come up through the process.
Community & Testimony Space
Of course the entire retreat space will be one of community, however this time will be reserved for the telling of our stories, the sharing of our truths, the weaving of deeper connection with self and others. There are too many spaces in this life wherein Black women+ are not free and encouraged to testify in the fullness of ourselves, and too few spaces that feel safe to do so. In this time, however it manifests, we can change that. Amber leads similar spaces during her Hvileåret work and will be sharing potent exercises with us.
Foraging Walk & Medicinal Herbs Preparation Class
Here we will partake in some easier hikes/walks in the vicinity, identify and learn about a few local wild herbs/foods, learn how to forage them sustainably, and return to the house to learn to prepare them as medicine and as food.
Spoon Carving Workshop
Since 2018 Amber has been holding spoon carving workshops as a way to engage with the act of ignoring—to turn away from thinking to creating with our hands. We will go over some basic safe knife skills and be able to work on our own projects over the week, leaving with a memento of our time together.
Led Hikes & Outdoor Excursions (2 times, weather willing)
Skomvær is part of a collection of islands known as The Bird Mountains: Hernyken, Trenyken, Ellevsnyken, Storfjellet, and Vedøya in a row. We aim to take two trips to some of these islands where we can see puffins and gulls in their nesting habitats and enjoy some hikes around the islands.
**There is an extra cost for these trips to pay for the boat: approx 800kr.
Daily Community Meals
Our evening meal preparation will happen together. Sharing recipes and techniques, cooking to good music, laughing, singing, dancing, connecting over the intentional making of food is such a space of beauty.
Daily Evening movement (Restorative, Yin, Meditation, Nidra)
This will be a daily opportunity to wind down in a relaxing space, stretching the body and engaging in some meditation practices before bed.
**Time will also be set aside for anyone participating in the retreat to share with the group, whether it’s to share art or related skills, a self-care technique, lead a discussion, hold a cooking class, or anything else.
PricING + Funding
Hearing Home hopes to be as anti-capitalist and transparent as possible about the cost framework for the retreat, and to make it as financially accessible as possible, while also preserving the integrity of our labour!
As such the deposit amount is non-refundable. This amount ($100 USD / ~ 900 NOK) covers the costs associated with planning the retreat, and secures the accommodation reservation.
Pay it Forward/Reparations contributions will be rolling in and the number of spaces covered will be posted here as information is available.
Please reach out if you require full or partial retreat fee coverage!
Retreat Cost DUE JULY 1:
The base level for the full retreat is 6000kr/550 USD.
The sliding scale for the retreat begins at 3000 NOK / 275 USD, and goes up to 10000 NOK / 910 USD. You’re encouraged to pay according to your financial ability—funds received in addition to the base level of the scale will be used to fund future retreats, and to open free spots.
This base level of the scale pays for the basics: accommodation, food, transportation during the retreat, and instruction during the workshops etc.
For those interested who are not able to pay the deposit at the moment, or with any financial concerns, please reach out to Ro at ro@unlrnprjct.com and we will figure things out!
**If you’re interested in Hearing Home and/or intend to register and attend this summer, please fill out the form below BEFORE PAYING THE DEPOSIT/REGISTRATION FEE!*
A NOTE ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Hearing Home 2024 is more than a holiday, it is a space of community away from the weights of living and working in a racialized society. Therefore we encourage employers to support their Black Women+ team members to reclaim their space and do all they can to facilitate their participation. We are happy to write a letter of intent outlining the retreat and its aims to support funding or time off from work.
Pay it Forward + Reparations
Once full payment opens, paying at a higher level will provide funds that can offset costs for those who are not able to afford the full cost of the retreat. Beyond this, there is an option to contribute financially to the retreat to make it as accessible as possible.
Non-Black people, especially white people, are encouraged to contribute to the cost of the retreat, as a form of reparations / paying it forward. If surplus funds are raised, they will be put towards future retreats!
This is for those interested in contributing financially to the Hearing Home retreat, especially non-Black peoples interested in contributing to a reparative framework to support and uplift the rest, relaxation, and deep healing of Black women+ in a world determined to reduce our access to these things at every turn.
Contributions are NON-REFUNDABLE.
This will be put forward to:
reduce overall costs for all participants
create scholarship/low-cost spaces on the retreat for Black women+
fund activities and experiences during the retreat
making future retreats for Black women+ possible + scholarship spaces on future retreats
Covid-19 Considerations - PLEASE READ!
This retreat and spaces like it are even more imperative given the isolation this pandemic has required, and the disproportionately negative effects of the pandemic itself, and isolation on Black women+ globally. Now, more than ever, we need space to heal.
Covid-19 is real, and precautions will be taken to make the retreat as safe as possible and we will be endeavouring to stay within the Norwegian government and health authority’s guidelines. If you are coming from outside of Norway and by July the government is still recommending a quarantine period in a quarantine hotel, please factor this into your costs and timing.
Signing up for this retreat is an agreement and commitment to do whatever you can to travel safely, take all possible precautions, and limit in-person interactions as much as is possible for you in the days before the retreat. Trying our best in this time is community care, even in a time when the long-term effects of the virus are increasingly underreported/underaddressed.
Of course, life is life, and not everything can be stopped, but this is simply a request to start a little early with community support by doing everything we can to keep one another safe and healthy!
And, please ensure that you purchase travel insurance, even if you are travelling within Norway!!
In the event that the retreat must be cancelled for any reason including Covid-19 restrictions (e.g. travel restrictions, or restrictions on the number of guests that can share a space), all costs beyond the deposit amount will be refunded.
NOTES + Disclaimers
A note on language:
Why ‘women+’? As someone who identifies as a non-binary woman, the deep importance of including those who identify as “woman, and” or “woman, but” or as femme, or genderqueer, or non-binary etcetc is viscerally felt for Ro. Basically, if you have experienced systemic oppression on the basis of the intersection of race and gender within which you identify, and you feel a retreat like this would affirm you and support you in your life as a Black person, then you are welcome.
Why ‘Black women+’?
Anti-Blackness is as global as the air we breathe, and Black peoples are reminded of this on the daily. We are so rarely centred in our capacity and need for joy, rest, rejuvenation, and healing, and, particularly in predominantly white frameworks, so rarely occupy spaces wherein we can heal in community. Hearing Home exists in response to the need these kinds of spaces, and the desire to help provide such a space, hopefully one day in a more permanent way. For now, for a week or a few every year, Ro unapologetically prioritizes and centers our healing. Period.
That said! Ro does hold retreat spaces for mixed groups and other affinity groups (PoC, Indigenous, Queer+Trans, QTBIPOC, etc.). If you’re interested in co-creating such a retreat space for a group you have in mind, please reach out to ro@unlrnprjct.com and we can explore what that might look like!
A disclaimer re: mental health care:
While we will be learning self-care, unlearning, and community healing methods during this retreat, it is not a substitute for professional mental health care, and no professional mental health care will be available as a part of the retreat.
The images below were captured during the retreat in Summers 2021 and 2022—SUCH incredibly beautiful times.
