Conversations with Extractivism 2023
Dates
3 - 5 July 2023
Times
7:00 - 9:00am GMT on all three days
Locations
- Athens: [sic] Space for International Cooperation; Address: Nileos 9, Athens 11851
- Melbourne: Monash Art, Design and Architecture, Building G, Caulfield Campus, 900 Dandenong Road, 3145
Online Access
This international symposium is open to public and free of charge. You can join online and at one of the two locations.
Online registration HERE
Description
Conversations with Extractivism is a symposium that brings together an ensemble of artists, designers, and researchers to critically examine the practices, histories and concepts of ‘extractivism.’ Through multiple lenses within the domain of art, design, performance and architecture, invited speakers will discuss the complexities of a worldview based on the extraction and exploitation of planetary resources — from matter, to data, to memories, to emotions — focusing on the impacts at local and global scales. Over three sessions, this international gathering will provide a space for dialogue that fosters a collaborative creative exploration of extractivist practices. Looking into the themes of ‘place,’ ‘matter,’ and ‘action,’ the symposium will interrogate the social, ecological, and cultural implications of extractivist worldviews, opening up a space to evolve deeper insights and forge new approaches which can contribute to reciprocal, sustainable and equitable futures. Each session invites three artists/researchers to share practices, stories and case studies for consideration, followed by questions and an open conversation. This symposium builds upon the success of its 2022 edition, providing a platform for the transformative conversations and transdisciplinary exchanges that are at the heart of the Shared Campus | Critical Ecologies Group’s mission.
This symposium is conceived by: Desiree Hernandez, Eduardo Kairuz, Heather Barnett and Nuria Krämer.
Organiser: Shared Campus | Critical Ecologies
Hosts: Monash University, University of the Arts London, Zurich University of the Arts
Project Partner: Georgios Pappadopoulos and [sic] Space for International Cooperation (ATHENS)
Main Visual Designer: MULTI FORM (multi-form.it)
Speakers
Kareen ADAM, Ricardo AVELLA, Emilia BOURITI, Fritriani DWI KURNIASIH, Maria KAMPOURI, Therese KEOGH, Maria PETEINAKI, Daisy TAM, and Kirrakee WATSON.
These conversations will be moderated by: Nicholas MANGAN, Ruobing WANG and Yusaku IMAMURA.
Acknowledgement
This event will take place on the unceded lands of the people of the Kulin nations. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present, and acknowledge Aboriginal connection to material and creative practice on these lands for more than 60,000 years.
PLACE
Date
Monday, 3 July 2023
Time
7:00-9:00 GMT
Registration Link
Description
Through the lens of "place," invited guests will be examining the profound impacts of extractivist practices on specific geographic locations. Their explorations highlight the intricate connections between land, people, and natural resources, shedding light on the environmental, social, and cultural transformations brought about by extractive industries within First Nations land in Australia and Athens.
Position 1
Counter Mapping of Country - Input by Kirrakee Watson
This paper explores the intersections of colonial placemaking, First Nations relationships to Country, and capitalist enclosures. It emphasizes the role of the "colonial survey" in mapping and dividing spaces during the colonial frontier, facilitating land colonization and the origins of property regimes. My research examines the historical privatization of property through enclosures and its link to capitalist logic in city gentrification. It argues that gentrification in colonial countries, like Australia, is an ongoing manifestation of historical colonization's impact on First Nations peoples.
Position 2
Gentrification, extractivism and struggles for a sustainable Athens - Input by Maria Peteinaki
Maria Petinaki who is an architect, activist and environmental scientist, is going to discuss the recent history of the city of Athens, focusing on the recent construction and refurbishing boom, caused by tourism, as well as by real-estate speculation. Maria is part of ecual, a circular economy cooperative that proposes ways to reduce the ecological footprint in construction, a sector which is responsible for 37,3% of waste. Recual focuses on recovering finishing materials from refurbishments, storing them and creating an accessible and design-friendly eshop for architects, constructors and owners to use these materials in a new way. It’s a way to reuse, upcycle but also preserve the architectural heritage of the Athenians apartments. This initiative is very important if one considers the energy required for the production of finishing materials, the raw materials and the extraction process, as well as the energy that is needed for their transportation. In addition, we should take into account that Greece produces very few finishing materials. It’s important for us to change the narrative around the reuse of materials and the final design result they can create, in order to encourage designers and clients to use more what is already available. Maria is also going to share her experience as a resident of Athens and a member of various social and cultural initiatives, including Alternative Tours of Athens, as part of which she has participated in discussions and struggles for a more social, inclusive and sustainable organization of city life.
Position 3
The Spoil Grounds - Input by Therese Keogh
The Spoil Grounds looks to an offshore dumping ground of dredged material from the Port of Newcastle, on Awabakal and Worimi Country, analysing the wasted matter of capital, conquest, and global trade created by the legislative and geographical fictions that underpin Australia’s settler colonial material economy of extraction. Since 1859, this geography of spoils has been facilitated by a network of legislative documentation and hydrographic surveying that administrate the creation of new material grounds, while also maintaining their own non-existence through deferrals of accountability, strategic ambiguity, and nothing-to-see-here environmental reporting. The Spoil Grounds offers a turning towards/into the problematics of legislative and geographical texts that maintain extractive industries and settler colonial relations with land, through the discards, toxicities, and discharges that they enact, in order to posit methods for rethinking and reimagining an environmental politics of excess.
Moderation by
Nicholas MANGAN (Monash)
About the Speakers
Kirrakee WATSON is a Tanganekald, Meintangk, Bungandidj (Boandik) Woman from the South East. She has worked as an Architect for many years and is currently undertaking a PhD Through Monash University. Her research explores the connections between architecture, colonial placemaking, and Aboriginal relationships to Country, aiming to understand the impact of space and design on Indigenous communities.
Maria PETEINAKI is an architect, a graduate of the National Technical University of Athens and has been active since 2004. In 2006 she co-founded the architecture office oddworks, in 2012 ATAthens, a collective group focused on creating new narratives for Athens and empowering local communities. Since 2016 she has co-founded the architecture group ECUAL. She was also a production assistant at the Sound Development City project in 2015 and at the Athens Biennale in 2016. Since 2021, Mikilio, a social cooperative focused on the principles of regeneration, degrowth and permaculture, has been organized. She participates in this cooperative with the project RECUAL, an initiative for the recycling and upcycling of renovation materials and the introduction of ecological building techniques and materials into the urban environment. She has devoted a large part of her time and energy to the commons and the city, organizing urban cultural events, actions, participatory design workshops, neighborhoods and researching environmental policies towards social ecology and degrowth.
Therese KEOGH is an artist and writer, living and working on the unceded lands of the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation. Her practice operates at intersections between sculpture, geography, and landscape architecture, to produce multilayered projects that explore the socio-political and material conditions of knowledge production. Therese works collaboratively through writing and research projects, including facilitating ‘Incubating Imaginaries’ with Saskia Schut – investigating post-extractive landscapes using interdisciplinary fieldwork methods – and ‘Written Together’ – a collective workshop for non-normative writing in arts research. Therese has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions in Australia and Europe, and has published her writing widely. Therese holds a BFA from Monash University, an MFA from Sydney College of the Arts, and an MA Geography from Queen Mary University of London. She is currently undertaking a PhD at Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne.
Web page: https://www.theresekeogh.com/therese-keogh
MATTER
Date
Tuesday, 4 July 2023
Time
7:00-9:00 GMT
Registration Link
Description
Examining the concept of "extractivism" through the lens of "matter," invited guests open up their perspectives on the development of the Venezuelan Amazon, mining in Greece, and food waste in Hong Kong. By delving into the materiality and historical context of extraction, these guests uncover the interconnected narratives of environmental degradation, socio-economic, and cultural impacts. Through their investigations, they illuminate the complex relationships between resources, human activities, and ecological systems, prompting reflection and raising critical questions about sustainable resource management.
Position 1
Modernization and Resource Extraction In the Venezuelan Amazon. Tracing the origins of the nation's rentier mentality - Input by Ricardo Avella
The colonization of the Venezuelan Amazon had a dramatic impact on a region that had remained relatively untouched by colonization until the 1960s. During the Cold War, and framed by the values of modernization theory, development plans and colonization campaigns brought thousands of settlers to the region, shaping new ways of life and establishing new patterns of urbanization that interfered with the biodiversity of the forest and the practices and economies of indigenous peoples. A brief history of the development of the Venezuelan Amazon over the past century will help to illustrate how these modernizing nation-building efforts may underlie the environmental and social justice struggles that dominate the region today. By tracing the origins of the rentier model that financed the modernization of the country, and by recalling the role assigned by the state to the Venezuelan Amazon, this presentation will generate insights into continuities rather than ruptures between the policies of the democratic governments and those of the current authoritarian regime.
Position 2
Dive into the mine - Input by Maria Kampouri
Historically, gold mining has lived its glory years during the 20th century; in particular estimations place, roughly an 80% of the earth’s gold reserve extraction within that century. The case study of Skouries in North Greece is typical of a historically small-scale mining site that was transformed into a large-scale open mining pit operation, one of the most devastating industrial activities in both environmental and social terms. Αs numerous examples from South American, African and Asian countries have demonstrated over the past decades, local and national authorities work as close allies with transnational corporations to undertake such projects.
At a time of alarming resource depletion, biodiversity loss, pollution and land degradation, should we consider moving our mining activities into space? Can sci-fi mines (Asimov’s “Catch that rabbit”, Longyear’s “Enemy mine”, Duncan Jones’ “Moon” etc.) help us re-imagine the future of extractivism?
Position 3
Turning Waste into a resource - Input by Daisy Tam
17% of all food produced for human consumption is wasted.
In dominant discourses - waste and excess are often understood as results of unoptimized processes, which drives solutions towards increasing techniques of control. Waste scholars argue instead that waste is produced out of classification systems. In this talk , I will show how matters out of place, out of time, out of sync, can be tapped into to open up new ecologies of practice.
Presenting Breadline, a web-application I developed for food rescue in Hong Kong, I demonstrate how the platform design tackles waste and excess through generative disruptions.
Moderation by
Ruobing Wang (LASALLE)
About the Speakers
Ricardo Avella holds a double degree in architecture from the Universidad Central de Venezuela and the Politecnico di Torino, and graduated cum laude from the European Post-Master in Urbanism at TU Delft. He is now a doctoral candidate at TU Delft, where he is researching the modernization of the Venezuelan Amazon and the role of rural housing as an instrument of colonization during the Cold War. In recent years he has been dedicated to understanding the spatial impact of resource extraction in the Venezuelan Amazon and exploring spatial strategies that can facilitate the growth of local initiatives in a systemic way, to overcome the country's dependence on the extraction of non-renewable resources. Ricardo has worked with research groups and artists on this topic, publishing essays and giving lectures internationally. Architect and urbanist, he had his own architectural practice in Venezuela, and collaborated as an urban designer and spatial analyst with ORG Permanent Modernity in Brussels in many large-scale urban projects. He has also taught design studios and architectural history at the School of Architecture of the Universidad Central Venezuela, and has worked as coordinator of an advanced master's degree in urbanism at the Università IUAV di Venezia.
Maria KAMPOURI, based in Athens, has been working for almost a decade as a project manager in non-profit organisations, on EU and national projects, aiming at environmental protection and sustainability. Currently, she works in the Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition of the Agricultural University of Athens. As a teenager with a keen interest on environmental issues, she moved to London and studied Biological Sciences (BSc) with specialisation in ecology in King’s College and Environmental Management (MSc) in Imperial College. Her thesis, on the response of fine roots to environmental change, was carried out in the Finnish Forestry Research Institute. Later on, she completed the MSc Environment and Development in the National Technical University of Athens, with focus on GIS and remote sensing, which led to a research project on mapping forest biodiversity using satellite imagery. Maria’s interest include: biodiversity conservation, land use politics and science fiction.
Daisy TAM is Associate Professor at the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing at the Hong Kong Baptist University. Informed by her Cultural Studies training, her research in urban food systems and critical cultural analysis on food waste is a theoretical and technical endeavour underpinned by an interest in ethical practices of care. She collaborates closely with community organisations and works in an interdisciplinary and impact-driven manner. She is founder of HKFoodWorks and Breadline - HK’s first public digital platform for food rescue. Her latest publications include (2022) ‘Moving from Risky to Response-able Care’, Antipode. Wiley, 54(3), pp. 914–933. and (2021) ‘Listening to Noise : Breadline — Food Rescue as System of Interruption’, International Journal of Communication. USC Annenberg, 15, pp. 2710–2723.
ACTION
Date
Wednesday, 5 July 2023
Time
7:00-9:00 GMT
Registration Link
Description
Exploring the concept of "extractivism" through the lens of "action," artists are engaging in artistic interventions, art activism, and community art. These dynamic approaches empower artists to challenge and resist extractive practices, mobilize communities, and reimagine alternative futures. By actively participating in socio-political movements and creating transformative experiences, invited artists show examples how art has the power to inspire collective action and advocate for sustainable, just, and equitable systems of resource management.
Position 1
Whose IsLand Is it Anyway? - Input by Kareen Adam
What is an Island Destination? What does it take to create an Island Destination? Who gets to enjoy the pleasures of the Island Destination? In this presentation I discuss my current PhD research - Adjusting the tourist gaze: Using art to re-present notions of tourist island destinations. This is a practice-led research project that critiques representations of island destinations, and the colonial mechanisms embedded in tourism marketing, with a particular reference to the Indian Ocean archipelagic state of Maldives. Ideas and assumptions about Maldives as an island destination created for tourism, the privileges of holidaying, freedom to travel for rest and relaxation will be illustrated through a work-in-progress art installation titled "Whose IsLand Is It Anyway?"
Position 2
Art for People - Input by Fitriani Dwi Kurniasih
Fitriani will be offering a unique insight into her artistic practice and community engagement. Her work tells the story of the large scale exploitation of natural resources and labor which has been committed for decades by state and foreign companies. She will start introducing the project she did with the Taring Padi collective in Porong after a mudflow caused by an oil and gas exploration company caused a gigantic disaster. This disaster and the question what art can do was a turning point in her practice. Furthermore, she will be presenting other community projects she did in solidarity with the Batang people..
Position 3
“Amoli” International Project - Input by Emilia Bouriti
Emilia Bouriti, researcher, visual and performance artist on an interdisciplinary context, presents the International Project Amoli, which means: 'The groove of water that waters the agricultural crops'. Aspropyrgos is the least favored region nationally. Τhe violent industrial development it experienced in the mid-20th century, its transformation from rural to industrial and its transition in the last decades to post-industrial, is reflected in the fragmented image of the city. In addition, the intense migratory activity in different periods of time has shaped the current multicultural physiognomy of Aspropyrgos.
The artist attempts to highlight the agricultural crops that are in danger of being wiped out by logistics companies and environmental mismanagement to the detriment of the local community, by turning farms into spaces for art, meetings, interdisciplinarity, education and energy transition, thus enhancing the sustainability and resilience of the rural, Arvanitic community (An ethnic group speaking an albanian-greek oral language). Finally, she opens a dialogue on the right of communities to define their own lives.
Moderation by
Yusaku IMAMURA (TUA)
About the Speakers
Kareen ADAM is a Maldivian artist and PhD research candidate based in Melbourne, Australia. Her multi-disciplinary practice interrogates the personal, social and political complexities of living between two homes with their unique histories. Sense of place, home, belonging and identity are recurring themes in her work. She aims to create work that generates curiosity and conversation through playful juxtaposition of bold imagery and text, or delicately rendered drawings. Her current research applies a decolonial lens to critique tourism representations of Island Destinations to inform her practice that’s focused on subverting the tourist gaze through re-interpretations of tourism paraphernalia, space and marketing techniques. Kareen maintains a close connection to her Maldivian home and has contributed to creative projects for, and with the Maldivian community as an artist, curator and creative co-director. Kareen is a PhD Candidate (Fine Art) at Wominjeka Djeembana Lab, MADA, Monash University.
Fitriani DWI KURNIASIH is an art worker from Yogyakarta. She is also a visual artist who uses graphic art techniques such as hardboard cuts and etchings to critique and dialogue on social and environmental issues. Fitri is committed to raising women’s issues through art and music and consistently provides a strong female voice in an extremely patriarchal culture. Fitri is a member of the SURVIVE!Garage community and the Taring Padi art collective, and vocalist of the band Dendang Kampungan.
Emilia BOURITI is a researcher, visual and performance artist. She has studied "Performance and visual art", with postgraduate studies at the British University of Brighton. She has worked as a representative of the European Association of Art Institutions, European League Institutes of the Arts (ELIA) in Greece, organizing meetings related to Innovative teaching methods and Research. She is a representative of the non-profit company "Syn+ergasia", organizing the AMOLI International Program focus on: Art and rural life, energy, multiculturalism, resilience to post-industrial environments. She signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Laboratory of Soft Energy Applications and Environmental Protection of the University of West Attica creating actions of educating the rural community on issues of culture, sustainability and resilience. She has been selected by the Ministry of Culture and Sports to participate in the completion of the National Report on the implementation in Greece of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO.
Link: https://synergasia.wixsite.com/synergasia https://emiliabouriti.com/