Elixirs of Life is the third in a series of 6 workshops, each lasting 2 days, as part of Emperor Qin’s Mausoleum. This is a collective project and curriculum led by artist Marguerite Humeau on the quest for eternal life. The project takes as a starting point China’s first Emperor Qin (259-210 BC) and the finely crafted and engineered mausoleum he commissioned for himself. In an attempt to ‘re-humanise humanity’, Marguerite Humeau has gathered experts from the fields of architecture, botany, embalming and sound to work with us over 6 workshops.

Session 3: Elixirs of Life

How do we create immortality? How do we make elixirs? We will work with botany expert Lucia Stuart, who will take us on a foraging expedition along Margate’s shoreline. We will look for millennial coastal and sea plants associated symbolically and in more straightforward ways with eternal life, and will transform plants to use them as building materials.

Read more about the overall project and future sessions here.