Mediating power through craft, ritual, and relationships: MultiBEING at ISARS 2026
Our researchers Jimena Bigá and Victoria Peemot explored the role of ritual practice, material culture, and more-than-human relationships in community life and well-being in a conference in Seoul, South Korea.
Event description
MultiBEING researchers Jimena Bigá and Victoria Peemot (University of Helsinki), together with Peemot’s research collaborator Chuluu Oyunbadam from Mongolia, recently participated in the conference of the International Society for Academic Research on Shamanism (ISARS), held at the Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea.
Their presentations were part of the panel session “Mediating Power Through Craft, Ritual, and Relationships”, chaired by Peemot. The panel examined how power is mediated through more-than-human relationships and material implements, how this mediation is enacted through ritual practice, and how these dynamics contribute to community well-being across diverse geographical and cultural contexts – from South America to North Asia.
Drawing on her ethnographic fieldwork with the Tuxá people in Brazil, doctoral researcher Jimena Bigá delivered a talk entitled “Spirit-imbued Implements and Collective Agency in the Sub-Middle São Francisco River, Brazil”.
Chuluu Oyunbadam, a member of the reindeer-herding Duha community in northern Mongolia, presented on the continuity of kham practices and material culture among the Duha people.
In her talk, “Wisdom of the Snake: The Guardian, Helper, and Power of the Tyva Kham”, Dr. Victoria Peemot discussed more-than-human relationships and the materiality of Tyvan kham (shamanic) beliefs.
The conference provided a valuable platform for networking and knowledge exchange among scholars and community members from more than 30 countries. The conference programme is available here.
📸 Photos:
1. Victoria Peemot at the performance dedicated to the Korean farmers’ culture during the ISARS conference, Sogang University, Seoul, June 2026. Photo published with permission from Chuluu Oyunbadam.
2. Jimena Bigá (right), Chuluu Oyunbadam (left), and the Tyva kham (shaman) Chinchi Khalikova (centre), Seoul, June 2026. Photo by Victoria Peemot.
3. MultiBEING collaborator Chuluu Oyunbadam (Mongolia) presenting her talk at ISARS, Sogang University, Seoul, June 2026. Photo published with permission from Artysh Mongush, also a presenter in the panel session.
