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EcoFutures (04-19 April) is a festival in East London that brings together over 70 artists, activists and theorists from all over the world to create a platform for discussion and experimentation around urgent environmental and ecological issues.
Climate change, extinction, pollution, health and sustainability are all viewed through an intersectional, feminist and queer lens.
STARING AT THE SUN
The Art Pavilion
05-14 April, 12.00-19.00 daily, FREE
At the speed of techno-global-capitalism we continue producing, consuming and living without accounting for the Earth’s ability to replenish itself at the pace that we demand – we want to stare at the sun and, at the same time, expect not to lose our sight.
The artists in this international group exhibition critically approach this predicament by producing lived and speculative alternatives to the ongoing ecological and environmental destruction.
Their visions draw from indigenous knowledges, eco-sustainable modes of living, non-exploitative human/non-human relations, queer bio-hacking, gendered approaches to climate change, nature-based spirituality and ecosexuality.
Artists: Eca Eps / Helena Hunter / Liz Rosenfeld / Mary Maggic / Micha Cárdenas / Nadja Verena Marcin / Pinar Yoldas / Tabita Rezaire / Zheng Bo
LOCAL DIALOGUES – GLOBAL MOVEMENTS
The Art Pavilion
06 April, 14.00-21.00, FREE
A day-long eco-fair with pop-up food, products and book stalls, performances, talks and screenings to showcase local and global activisms.
Performances by Timebomb Theatre and Moa Johansson. Speakers and activists include Suzanne Dhaliwal, Women’s Environmental Network, Platform/Voices that Shake!, Susan Buckingham and Ama Josephine Budge. Followed by an evening screening of the film Fresh Kill by Shu Lea Cheang. Everyone welcome!
IN RESIDENCY
The Art Pavilion & Mile End Park
05-07 April, FREE
Starting from historical effervescent political protests, this residency investigates the potential of domino-effect actions that grow out of our personal and collective awareness of the urgency of environmental activism.
Xavier de Sousa and Andre Neely will be inviting audiences and experts alike to contribute to their research. This residency is produced in collaboration with 2Degrees Festival, Warehouse9 (Denmark) and Foreign Actions Productions.
PERFORMING RIGHTS SERIES
Ecologies of Migration
Live Art Development Agency
09 April, 19.00, FREE
A selection of performance videos reflecting on how stories of migration, border-crossing and refuge-seeking are integrated within ecological discourses from queer, feminist and decolonial perspectives. Featuring videos by Kyrahm & Julius Kaiser, Feral Theatre, Quimera Rosa, Rocío Boliver and Inés Moldavsky, with a Q&A.
WATER MAKES US WET
By Beth Stephens & Annie Sprinkle
Genesis Cinema
11 April, 18:30, £8/9
With a poetic blend of curiosity, humour, sensuality and concern, this film chronicles the pleasures and politics of H2O from an ecosexual perspective. Along the way, Annie and Beth interact with a diverse range of folks including performance artists, biologists, water treatment plant workers, scholars and others, climaxing in a shocking event that reaffirms the power of water, life and love.
QUEER-FEMINIST ECOCRITICISM IN LIVE ART & VISUAL CULTURES
Arts Two, Queen Mary University of London
13 April, 10:30-19.00, £3
This one-day international conference brings together artists, theorists and activists to cover topics ranging from non-human ethics to ecosexuality. Participants include Gaia Giuliani, Shela Sheikh, João Florencio and a keynote by Silvia Federici. With screenings of works by Wangechi Mutu and Adelita Husni-Bey.
DEEP TRASH: ECO TRASH
Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club
19 April, 20.00-02.00, £10/12/15
The legendary exhibition-performance club night is back with a themed night dedicated to future visions of our ecological landscape and the diverse relationships within it. Over 40 artists have been selected from an international open call and will present new, challenging and uncensored work spread across three floors with live DJ sets.
WEAVING LOCAL VOICES: SUSTAINABILITY, SURVIVAL AND ECONOMIES OF LABOUR
Stitches in Time & The Art Pavilion
FREE
Four workshop sessions led by Raisa Kabir explore how weaving can respond to the ways women’s labour is exploited in the textile industries. Using recycled materials and back strap looms, the weavers will code their stories and narratives into the tapestry to create a new local archive that maps collective forms of survival and resistance. Participants recruited through Stitches in Time.
MOTHER THE VERB WORKSHOP
By Ivy Monteiro & Javier Stell-Frésquez
Chisenhale Dance Space
07 April, 13.00-15.00 & 15:15-17.00, £5/10/15
Rooted in queer and indigenous/of colour worldviews and lived experiences, this two-part workshop offers the space for participants to complicate the concept of motherhood in relation to our environment.
Sessions include movement exploration and discussions to counteract heteropatriarchal white supremacy. In the first session, ‘Ain’t I Your Mother?’, Javier and Ivy will share their inspirations for ‘Mother the Verb’, including how it connects to their own Indigenous and Latinx matriarchal roots. The second part, ‘Urban Ecology for POC: Designing Our Own Seat at The Table’, is restricted to POC participants only.
SF TRANS*PLANT
By Quimera Rosa
The Art Pavilion
09-13 April, 13.00-18.00 daily, £70/80 for five days
With a commitment to creative self-experimentation, open-source data and biomedical research, Quimera Rosa’s workshop will utilise bio-hacking DIY techniques to challenge binary identity principles that often separate humans from their non-human relations by hybridising human materials with those of other life forms.
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