[NetBehaviour] [Fwd: PAV - Parco Arte Vivente presents Vegetation as a Political Agent]

[ahanon]

Hiyas,

Might be of an interest here?

http://arty.li/ZMF

Details:

VEGETATION AS A POLITICAL AGENT curated by Marco Scotini from 31 May to 2
November 2014 Opening Friday, the 30th of May, at 6.30 pm PAV | Via
Giordano Bruno 31, 10134 - Turin | +39 011 3182235  Works  by: Ayreen
Anastas & Rene Gabri, Imre Bukta, Amilcar Cabral, Filipa  César,
Critical Art Ensemble, Emory Douglas, Fernando García-Dory,  Piero
Gilardi, Daniel Halter, Adelita Husni-Bey, Bonnie Ora Sherk,  Claire
Pentecost, Marjetica Potrč, RozO (Philippe Zourgane &
Séverine Roussel), Nomeda and Gediminas Urbonas  The exhibition
aims to investigate the historical and social implications of the plant
world in light of the ever-increasing reclaim of 'green' as an agent of
change in relation to current neoliberal processes. To place a plant
within a historical context means to consider not only its biological
constitution, but also the social and political factors which see it
already positioned at the centre of the earliest forms of economic
globalisation. The colonial plantations and maritime trade of the 17th
and 18th centuries gave rise to the first systems of species control,  and
saw the emergence of cases of land expropriation and exploitation in  the
pursuit to monopolise spices. The exhibition seeks to shed light on  the
various stages in history in which vegetation served as a symbol of
social emancipation.  Focussing on the dual contexts of the past  and the
present, Vegetation as a political agent combines artistic,  filmic and
architectural works by fourteen international artists,  documents
pertaining to the historical pioneers of the first ecological
revolutions, and scientific equipment relevant to the botanical world.
Together with art works and installations, the exhibition includes a  vast
series of illustrations and samples of vegetation, and archive  materials
and posters produced in a wide variety of cultural contexts.  The
geopolitical areas to which the exhibition relates range from the  Indian
Ocean to Guinea-Bissau, from South Africa to Mexico.   The  historical and
documentary section of the exhibition is the result of  collaboration with
the Botanical Garden of Turin and represents a  selection of protected
species, at risk of extinction. Inside and  outside the walls of the PAV,
the interaction between agriculture and  popular movements is
investigated: documents relating to the figure of  Amilcar Cabral, an
agronomist and Guinean politician who led  Guinea-Bissau and the islands
of Cape Verde to independence from  Portugal as well as a filmic work by
Filipa César focusing on the same  figure of Cabral; the work of
Nomeda and Gediminas Urbonas that explores  the role of ecological
activism through figures like Mel King; the  murals of Emory Douglas, a
representative of the American Black Power  movement in defence of the
rural Chapas; and Adelita Husni-Bey's study  of the tree-sitting protest
camps in the United Kingdom.  Fernando  García-Dory's research
focuses on the revolutionary model of waste  recycling proposed by pioneer
George Chan, while forms of expression and  collective imagination on
themes relating to the green revolution are  presented in the masks and
costumes designed by Piero Gilardi and worn  in the theatrical animations
that challenge the use of GMO in maize  cultivation. The courtyard of the
PAV hosts two environmental  installations created for the exhibition by
RozO (Philippe Zourgane  & Séverine Roussel) and the Critical Art
Ensemble. RozO has  developed Salle verte, an architectural creation of a
vernacular nature  in the form of a plant cabin that visitors can explore.
The installation  includes a series of video documentaries on the French
ex-colonies of  Vietnam, Algeria and the Reunion Islands. The far end of
the courtyard  will house the Sterile field installation by the Critical
Art Ensemble.  This piece involves a portion of earth that has been
treated using the  roundup ready method, an invasive chemical weed killing
process which,  over an extended period of time, destroys biodiversity.
In  relation to the plant world, Vegetation as a political agent raises
issues concerning the claim of creative sujectivity through  horticultural
practices as considered, for example, in the work of  Ayreen Anastas &
Rene Gabri that focuses on the launch onto the  market of organic seeds to
maintain the biodiversity; Claire Pentecost's  study on transgenic corn in
Mexico; and the work of Marjetica Potrč  who, through her
involvement in participatory design, established a  self-organized
vegetable garden and park in Soweto. Daniel Halter works  with flowering
plants that have taken root in the Italian landscape but  originate from
South Africa, specifically Cape Town, proposing a form of  a reverse
colonization of Europe by African invaders. The 1970s is  represented
through figures such as the Hungarian Imre Bukta and the  Californian
Bonnie Ora Sherk, and approached from the perspective of the  pioneering
interaction between art and agriculture against the  contrasting backdrop
of the Cold War.    Over the course of the  exhibition, PAV Education and
Training activities will include a series  of workshops, open to the
public and facilitated by the artists  themselves.

Cheers!

Ahanon
xx