The Sanctuary Earth

Name: The Sanctuary Earth
Start: 2026-10-22
End: 2026-10-22
Location: Embassy of the Free Mind

Discover a different side to Amsterdam Dance Event, one that transforms how we experience ourselves and the world around us.

A collaboration between Embassy of the Free Mind and The Sanctuary Earth, a multidisciplinary team of mavericks pioneering the future of multimedia entertainment. Step out of the noise and into a space built for the body to listen. Sound, science, architecture, and timeless knowledge come together in a living experience across two days.

Admission is free for ADE passholders and EFM Members walk ins. Ticket sales are also available for each individual session, excluding museum entrance.

Program

Thursday, October 22

11:00 - 12.00 | Arriving Through Breath, Breath work & Meditation, €20

A gentle guided meditation set to a specially curated Sonic Spheres composition. Before the first beat, we begin with the breath. Bianka Duka opens the day with breathwork and meditation, inviting visitors to leave the noise behind and arrive fully in their bodies, the space, and the moment.

13:00 to 17:00 | The Sanctuary Earth (55 minute sessions), €15

Monica van der Meulen and Lasse Mosegard lead visitors through the Sonic Spheres, an immersive sound experience exploring whether sound can help us slow down, recalibrate, and reconnect. Each session begins with a short introduction, followed by the session using spatial audio and curated frequencies designed to support nervous system regulation and a sense of calm. Visitors experiencing sound as something felt throughout the body, not only heard.

17:30 - 18:30 | Sound, Technology and Consciousness: Perspectives from the Museum of Consciousness, €35

A talk by Carl Hayden Smith exploring, through insights from the Museum of Consciousness, whether sound can create lasting shifts in attention, perception, and behaviour. Includes sound transmissions from the Museum of Consciousness.

How does sound shape consciousness, and how might emerging technologies extend the ways we listen, feel and experience the world? This session explores sound as a medium for investigating perception, memory and altered states. What is the therapeutic potential of psychoacoustics and archaeoacoustics? Connecting artistic practice with critical enquiry, the session asks whether sound can support enduring changes in attention, perception and behaviour: a movement from altered states towards altered traits.

Friday, October 23

11:00 - 12.00 | Arriving Through Breath, Breath work & Meditation, €20

14:00 - 16:00 | The Sanctuary Earth (55 minute session), €15

‍16:00 - 17:00, The Final Resonance, €35

‍Following the final composition, the Sanctuary's key crew, Monica, Lasse, Monique, and Carl, open the floor to questions and reflections. A shared moment of gratitude and connection, closing the two days and carrying their resonance into everyday life.

Meet the Hosts

Monica van der Meulen | Amsterdam

As founder of The Sanctuary Earth, Monica explores how sound, architecture, and intentional stillness can become a new form of public wellbeing infrastructure.

Lasse Mosegard | Barcelona

As a producer, composer, DJ, and performer, Lasse Mosegard has spent his career in pursuit of the tones, rhythms, and frequencies that shift how people feel. That pursuit has taken him into work with artists such as David Lynch, Karsh Kale, and Queen Latifah, and into the soundtrack for the feature documentary The Last Shaman, directed by Raz Degan and presented by Leonardo DiCaprio. He now works from his own studio Sonic Spheres in Barcelona, making music meant to carry listeners toward connection, awareness, and joy.

Carl Hayden Smith | London

Carl Hayden Smith is an Associate Professor of Media in the School of Arts & Creative Industries at the University of East London and is the former interim Head of Research and the Director of the Learning Technology Research Centre (LTRC) at the Institute for Creativity & Technology, Ravensbourne University London. Carl’s research focuses on the relationship between technology and the human condition. He is developing a new form of Posthumanism called Hyperhumanism which uses technology as a catalyst for developing our own innate human abilities.

Bianka Duka | Amsterdam

Founder of Youniversessions, Bianka designs personal journeys shaped by curiosity, connection, and a calling from the heart. Within The Sanctuary, breath becomes the first rhythm and stillness the point of departure.

In Partnership with

Buy Tickets

Getting There

Address

House with the Heads
Keizersgracht 123, 1015 CJ Amsterdam

Public Transport

A fifteen-minute walk from Amsterdam Central Station. Prefer public transport? Take trams 13 or 17, or bus 170, 172, or 174 to the Westermarkt stop. From there, walk back a short distance, turn left onto Keizersgracht, and you will find us on your right after 300 meters.

Bike

Amsterdam is best explored on two wheels, and the EFM is no exception. Ample bike parking is available along the Keizersgracht.

Car

Parking in the area is paid (~ €8,05 per hour), and spaces can be difficult to find. The nearest parking garages are Q-park Nieuwendijk at Nieuwezijds Kolk 18 (650 meters), Q-park Bijenkorf at Beursstraat 15 (950 meters), and Q-park Europarking at Marnixstraat 250 (1,300 meters). You can also park at a P+R location and travel into the centre by public transport.

Upcoming Events

From immersive cultural experiences to distinguished academic gatherings, the Embassy of the Free Mind offers a diverse agenda open to all curious minds.