“We must all decolonize our minds in Western culture to be able to think differently about nature, about the destruction humans cause.” bell hooks (Belonging: A Culture of Place, 2008)
image: filmstill “Imbizo Ka Mafavuke” (Mafavuke’s Tribunal) (2017. 28min. Dir. Uriel Orlow)
Die dreitägige performative Konferenz UNEXPECTED LESSONS #2 wird im Rahmen des TALKING OBEJCTS LAB als Teil des Festivals Goethe Morph* Iceland im September 2022 in Reykjavik stattfinden. Wie seine Vorgängerveranstaltungen in Berlin und Nairobi widmen sich die UNEXPECTED LESSONS dem Thema der Dekolonisierung. Diesmal legen wir den Fokus auf die Natur, aus verschiedenen Perspektiven. Die UNEXPECTED LESSONS sind organisch. Als Teil des TALKING OBJECTS LAB bieten sie Ausgangs- und Zwischenpunkte, die thematisch mit Think Tanks in Dakar, Nairobi und Frankfurt verwoben sind.
Die außergewöhnliche Natur Islands, das geologisch hochinteressante Gebiet, das als Archiv der Erdgeschichte erlebt werden kann, wird in Reykjavik zum “anderen Objekt”, basierend auf der Idee eines erweiterten Objektbegriffs. Was macht die Natur zum “Anderen”? Welche Rolle spielt dabei die Entkopplung von Natur und Kultur? Ist die Dichotomie Kultur/Natur überhaupt haltbar? Und wie können wir unseren Blick auf die Welt dekolonisieren?
UNEXPECTED LESSONS #2 geht ein Think Tank im Juli 2022 in Nairobi voraus. Die Veranstaltung befasst sich mit Saatgutarchiven und ihren kolonialen Verstrickungen, der Kolonisierung von Land, dem verlorenen indigenen Wissen über Pflanzen und medizinische Pflanzenstoffe, der Natur als Erinnerungsarchiv und der Philosophie der Natur.
Künstler*innen und Expert*innen: Chef Kabui, Harriet Ng’ok, Uriel Orlow, Patrick Maundu, Neo Musangi, Ayesha Keshani, Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir, Wanuri Kahiu, Artist Collective Lucky 3, h.n. lyonga, Jumana Manna, Assaf Gruber
The three-day performative conference UNEXPECTED LESSONS #2 will take place in the frame of the TALKING OBEJCTS LAB (www.talkingobjectslab.org) as part of the festival Goethe Morph* Iceland in Reykjavik in September 2022. Just like its predecessor event in Berlin and Nairobi, it is dedicated to the theme of decolonization. This time we put a focus on nature, from different perspectives. The UNEXPECTED LESSONS are organic. As part of the TALKING OBJECTS LAB, they provide starting points and intermediate points, interweaving thematically with think tanks in Dakar, Nairobi and Frankfurt.
The extraordinary nature of Iceland, the geologically highly interesting area that can be experienced as an archive of the earth’s history, becomes the “other object” in Reykjavik, based on the idea of an expanded concept of an “object”. What makes nature the other? What role does the decoupling of nature and culture play in this? Is the culture/nature dichotomy tenable at all?And how can we decolonize our view of the world?
UNEXPECTED LESSONS #2 is preceded by a think tank in July 2022 in Nairobi. The event addresses seed archives and their colonial entanglements, colonization of land, lost indigenous knowledge on plants and medical botanicals, nature as an archive of memory and the philosophy of nature.
Lecture Performance with Ayesha Keshani (artist, museum worker, London)
5.30pm – 6.00pm
Philosophy of Nature / Philosophy of the Body
Input by Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir (philosopher, University of Iceland, tbc)
6.00pm – 6.45pm
Talk with Ayesha Keshani, Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir (Moderation Mahret Ifeoma Kupka)
6.45pm – 7.15pm
Pumzi (KEN, ZAF. 2009. 33min. Dir. Wanuri Kahiu)
7.15pm – 7.30pm
Short Break (change of location)
7.30pm
Lucky 3 presents: Kamayan
At the Greenhouse
Communal Eating Experience with the artists collective Lucky3 (Reykjavik)
15. September 2022
Film program
6.30pm
Wild Relatives (NO, DE, Palästina . 2018. 66min. Dir. Jumana Manna)
8.00pm
Short Film Program
Theatrum Botanicum Trilogy by Uriel Orlow
Imbizo Ka Mafavuke (Mafavuke’s Tribunal) (2017. 28min. Dir. Uriel Orlow)
Muthi (2016-2017. 17min. Dir. Uriel Orlow)
The crown against Mafavuke (2016. 18min. Dir. Uriel Orlow)
Conspicuous Parts (DE, PL. 2018. 35min. Dir. Assaf Gruber)
UNEXPECTED LESSONS #2 – Decolonizing Nature is supported by Goethe Institut London in the frame of the festival Goethe Morph* Iceland. The preparatory workshop “Anticolonial Approaches to Nature” in Nairobi was funded by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and supported by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.
TALKING OBJECT LAB @ Goethe MORPH* Iceland
UNEXPECTED LESSONS #2 – Decolonizing Nature
13 – 15 September 2022
Nordic House Reykjavik
image: filmstill “Imbizo Ka Mafavuke” (Mafavuke’s Tribunal) (2017. 28min. Dir. Uriel Orlow)
Die dreitägige performative Konferenz UNEXPECTED LESSONS #2 wird im Rahmen des TALKING OBEJCTS LAB als Teil des Festivals Goethe Morph* Iceland im September 2022 in Reykjavik stattfinden. Wie seine Vorgängerveranstaltungen in Berlin und Nairobi widmen sich die UNEXPECTED LESSONS dem Thema der Dekolonisierung. Diesmal legen wir den Fokus auf die Natur, aus verschiedenen Perspektiven. Die UNEXPECTED LESSONS sind organisch. Als Teil des TALKING OBJECTS LAB bieten sie Ausgangs- und Zwischenpunkte, die thematisch mit Think Tanks in Dakar, Nairobi und Frankfurt verwoben sind.
Die außergewöhnliche Natur Islands, das geologisch hochinteressante Gebiet, das als Archiv der Erdgeschichte erlebt werden kann, wird in Reykjavik zum “anderen Objekt”, basierend auf der Idee eines erweiterten Objektbegriffs. Was macht die Natur zum “Anderen”? Welche Rolle spielt dabei die Entkopplung von Natur und Kultur? Ist die Dichotomie Kultur/Natur überhaupt haltbar? Und wie können wir unseren Blick auf die Welt dekolonisieren?
UNEXPECTED LESSONS #2 geht ein Think Tank im Juli 2022 in Nairobi voraus. Die Veranstaltung befasst sich mit Saatgutarchiven und ihren kolonialen Verstrickungen, der Kolonisierung von Land, dem verlorenen indigenen Wissen über Pflanzen und medizinische Pflanzenstoffe, der Natur als Erinnerungsarchiv und der Philosophie der Natur.
Kuratorisches Team: Mahret Ifeoma Kupka (Frankfurt, Deutschland), Njoki Ngumi, The Nest Collective (Nairobi, Kenia), Chao Tayiana Maina, African Digital Heritage (Nairobi, Kenia), Isabel Raabe (Berlin, Deutschland)
Künstler*innen und Expert*innen: Chef Kabui, Harriet Ng’ok, Uriel Orlow, Patrick Maundu, Neo Musangi, Ayesha Keshani, Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir, Wanuri Kahiu, Artist Collective Lucky 3, h.n. lyonga, Jumana Manna, Assaf Gruber
The three-day performative conference UNEXPECTED LESSONS #2 will take place in the frame of the TALKING OBEJCTS LAB (www.talkingobjectslab.org) as part of the festival Goethe Morph* Iceland in Reykjavik in September 2022. Just like its predecessor event in Berlin and Nairobi, it is dedicated to the theme of decolonization. This time we put a focus on nature, from different perspectives. The UNEXPECTED LESSONS are organic. As part of the TALKING OBJECTS LAB, they provide starting points and intermediate points, interweaving thematically with think tanks in Dakar, Nairobi and Frankfurt.
The extraordinary nature of Iceland, the geologically highly interesting area that can be experienced as an archive of the earth’s history, becomes the “other object” in Reykjavik, based on the idea of an expanded concept of an “object”. What makes nature the other? What role does the decoupling of nature and culture play in this? Is the culture/nature dichotomy tenable at all? And how can we decolonize our view of the world?
UNEXPECTED LESSONS #2 is preceded by a think tank in July 2022 in Nairobi. The event addresses seed archives and their colonial entanglements, colonization of land, lost indigenous knowledge on plants and medical botanicals, nature as an archive of memory and the philosophy of nature.
Curatorial Team: Mahret Ifeoma Kupka (Frankfurt, Germany), Njoki Ngumi, The Nest Collective (Nairobi, Kenya), Chao Tayiana Maina, African Digital Heritage (Nairobi, Kenya), Isabel Raabe (Berlin, Germany)
Participanting artists and experts: Chef Kabui, Harriet Ng’ok, Uriel Orlow, Patrick Maundu, Neo Musangi, Ayesha Keshani, Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir, Wanuri Kahiu, Artist Collective Lucky 3, h.n. lyonga, Jumana Manna, Assaf Gruber
Full video documentation on the TALKING OBJECTS LAB blog
Program
13. September 2022
7.00pm
Afrofuturistic Conscious Cuisine
A Decolonized Plate
Lecture and dinner with Chef Kabui (organic farmer, anthropologist, cook, activist, Nairobi)
14. September 2022
11.30am
Welcome Remarks
12.00am – 12. 30am
The Indigenous Forest
Input by Harriet Chebet Ng’ok (Harriet’s Botanicals, Nairobi)
12.30am – 12.45am
Muthi (UK. 2017. 17min. Dir. Uriel Orlow)
12.45pm – 1.15pm
Njoki Ngumi in conversation with Harriet Chebet Ng’ok
1.15pm – 1.45pm
Digital Lesson from Nairobi #1 with Partick Maundu (ethnobiologist, Nairobi)
1.45 – 2.45
Lunch Break – Decolonized Plate
2.45pm – 3.00 pm
The Intersection of Landscape and Memory
Input by Chao Tayiana Maina (African Digital Heritage, Nairobi)
3.00pm – 3.15 pm
Memories of trees – tree routes and other Universes
Poetic Intervention by hn. lyonga (writer, Berlin)
3.15pm – 3.30pm
The Politicized Green Space
Artistic Lecture with Neo Musangi (artist, Nairobi)
3.30am – 4.30am
Telling Nature – About the importance of Storytelling
Talk with Chao Tayiana, hn. lyonga, Neo Musangi (moderation Isabel Raabe, TALKING OBJECTS LAB)
4.30pm
Digital Lesson from Nairobi #2 with Anna Moraa
4.35pm – 5.00pm
Short Break
5.00pm – 5.30pm
The Museum as Plantation
Lecture Performance with Ayesha Keshani (artist, museum worker, London)
5.30pm – 6.00pm
Philosophy of Nature / Philosophy of the Body
Input by Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir (philosopher, University of Iceland, tbc)
6.00pm – 6.45pm
Talk with Ayesha Keshani, Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir (Moderation Mahret Ifeoma Kupka)
6.45pm – 7.15pm
Pumzi (KEN, ZAF. 2009. 33min. Dir. Wanuri Kahiu)
7.15pm – 7.30pm
Short Break (change of location)
7.30pm
Lucky 3 presents: Kamayan
At the Greenhouse
Communal Eating Experience with the artists collective Lucky3 (Reykjavik)
15. September 2022
Film program
6.30pm
Wild Relatives (NO, DE, Palästina . 2018. 66min. Dir. Jumana Manna)
8.00pm
Short Film Program
Theatrum Botanicum Trilogy by Uriel Orlow
Imbizo Ka Mafavuke (Mafavuke’s Tribunal) (2017. 28min. Dir. Uriel Orlow)
Muthi (2016-2017. 17min. Dir. Uriel Orlow)
The crown against Mafavuke (2016. 18min. Dir. Uriel Orlow)
Conspicuous Parts (DE, PL. 2018. 35min. Dir. Assaf Gruber)
UNEXPECTED LESSONS #2 – Decolonizing Nature is supported by Goethe Institut London in the frame of the festival Goethe Morph* Iceland. The preparatory workshop “Anticolonial Approaches to Nature” in Nairobi was funded by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and supported by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.