Pastures, farmlands, mining, or urban areas. As the Amazon ecosystem approaches an irreversible tipping point of devastation, LABVERDE — a cultural and environmental activism project that promotes the production and democratization of knowledge about the world's largest rainforest — is launching a new edition of the "Speculative Ecologies" residency. Now in its eighth call, the initiative invites artists to actively participate in the discourse on nature conservation through the production of works resulting from research, experimental artistic languages developed during unique experiences in environmental reserves, and dialogues with indigenous communities facilitated by experts. Applications are open until May 8. Brazilian artists residing in Brazil are invited to apply through the website. LABVERDE covers travel, lodging, expeditions, and training, and provides a R$3,000 stipend to each selected participant to produce content.
Speculative Ecologies seeks artists and creators who explore the intersection of nature and culture to foster sensibilities distinct from those generated by the colonization of natural spaces. "Art lacks research initiatives; this is an opportunity to foster the investigation of nature and capacity-building in ecology. Faced with the essence and experience of forms, another logic of designing the world becomes visible—one in which the artist is not merely interested in representing, but rather in relating to natural spaces, a practice rooted in the essential desire to coexist," says LABVERDE coordinator Lilian Fraiji. How do we recognize and narrate nature, create new ways of existing and interacting with the natural environment, and imagine new approaches to ecosystems? How can art and science together help us understand natural phenomena and shift our contemporary anthropocentric worldview? "The primary goal is to create cultural content about the environment, generated through theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience in the Amazon Rainforest."
Lasting ten days, the "Speculative Ecologies" program will take place in August 2023 in the Brazilian Amazon. Curated by Lilian Fraiji, it features the participation of Italian-French philosopher Emanuele Coccia, author of The Life of Plants: A Metaphysics of Mixture and Sensible Life, with mediation by activists, indigenous people, anthropologists, biologists, and natural history researchers. The program is supported by the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), University of the Arts London, and the French Embassy in Brazil.
Created by Manifesta Arte e Cultura in cooperation with the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), LABVERDE promotes an intensive experience in the forest facilitated by a team of specialists in the fields of art, philosophy, biology, ecology, and natural sciences.
About LABVERDE
Founded in 2013, LABVERDE is a transdisciplinary platform based in the Brazilian Amazon dedicated to developing artistic languages about the environment. It works to produce and democratize knowledge through the organization of residencies, lectures, exhibitions, festivals, workshops, and publications.
Artists, scientists, indigenous people, and other knowledge holders come together to recognize and narrate nature, in an effort to create new ways of existing and interacting with the natural environment and to co-imagine new approaches to ecosystems today.
Speculative Ecologies Program
- Who is it for: visual artists, curators, musicians, writers, dancers, and other cultural actors
- Applications: www.labverde.com
- Period: until May 8, 11:59 PM
- Results: June, on LABVERDE's social media
- Start: August 2023
- Where: Adolpho Ducke Forest Reserve and on a boat, in the lower Rio Negro
This article was written by ArchDaily Team. The translation is powered by AI.
