Jolina Ruckert

Ruckert plans to follow the flames from Africa to India to China to Japan. “I will explore the ancient human relationship with fire as it exists in the world today,” she said. “I will witness the various ways fire continues to foster and bond communities, tie us to our ancestors and our histories, and create and support tradition and culture.” Ruckert’s journey will start in Africa where some of the earliest fire rituals have been documented and where fire remains in ceremony as a central aspect of social life. Her first stop will be in Namibia, after which she will travel by land through Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia. Then, she will visit Asia, and end her trip in “the Land of Fire and Ice, Iceland, to witness fire as it emerges in natural forms and the innovative way people are harnessing fire to power their lives and their communities.”