THE
CAMILLE DIARIES Symposium
26 September 2020, 10:00 – 19:45 CET Time Zone
Online conference, with livestream (please scroll down)
THE
CAMILLE DIARIES Symposium will discuss new artistic projects
by eleven international women and non-binary artists (installations,
video, objects, performance), currently exhibited in our show The
Camille Diaries. Current Artistic Positions on M/otherhood, Life
and Care (until 4 October 2020).
Reflecting
on the current conditions of our world (environmental changes, gender
aspects, biopolitics, etc.), the artists' positions propose an 'aesthetics
of care' as the basis for inter-species coexistence. Here, the planet
is understood as a symbiotic web in which we are all entangled with
one another (humans, plants, animals, environment) – on molecular,
organic, ethical and biopolitical levels. The artistic positions
investigate reproductive mechanisms, biochemical connections between
humans and nonhumans, and refer to alternative biomaterials as "source
of life" in future times of scarcity and crisis. The title
"The Camille Diaries" alludes to the "Camille Stories"
the final chapter of "Staying with the Trouble" (2016)
by philosopher and biologist Donna Haraway, a speculative future
where a dwindling human population replaces births with care between
species. Each "Camille" cares for the genetic material
of an endangered species (the monarch butterfly) by storing parts
of that material in their own DNA.
The one-day symposium will bring the artists together with researchers
from the humanities and natural sciences into a critical dialogue.
In different panels we will discuss alternative concepts of m/others,
wombs and placentas, fluid inheritance and modes of care. We will
reflect on genetic and biochemical exchanges between human and nonhuman,
both part of and remedy for the Anthropocene. Here the theme of
biotechnological transfigurations of human bodies places the human
being on the periphery and rather directs our full attention to
other living beings – a basic understanding of other species
and organisms from a feminist perspective. On the basis of the exhibited
works, we will discuss concepts of "Collective survival"
and "Arts of noticing" (A. Tsing), "Staying with
the Trouble" (D. Haraway), and in particular “Bodies of
water” connected to hydrofeminism (A. Neimanis).
Concept
of Symposium: Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz
Video Timeplan:
0:00 Introduction | Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz
16:46 Introductory Talk | Astrida Neimanis
1:23:25 Panel A | M/others, Wombs and Placentas
2:57:16 Panel B | Fluid Inheritance
4:26:04 Panel C | Modes of Care
6:28:07 M/others and Future Humans | Eben Kirksey
7:08:15 Final Discussion | Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz
10:00
– 11:20 CET Introduction into The Camille Diaries
Regine Rapp (Art History, Curatorial Research, Art Laboratory Berlin)
Christian de Lutz (Curatorial Research, Art Laboratory Berlin) Introductory Talk | Q&A with Exhibiting Artists Moderated by Regine Rapp
Astrida Neimanis (Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney)
11:45 – 13:15 CET Panel A | M/others, Wombs and Placentas Moderated by Tuçe Erel
Cecilia Jonsson (Artist, Amsterdam) – HAEM
Rodrigo Leite de Oliveira (Biomedicine, Netherlands Cancer Institute,
Amsterdam)
Margherita Pevere (Artist, Berlin/ Helsinki) – Wombs
Ai Hasegawa (Artist, Designer, Tokyo) – I Wanna Deliver
a Dolphin…
14:15 – 15:45 CET Panel B | Fluid Inheritance Moderated by Christian de Lutz
Špela
Petrič
(Artist, Biochemist, Amsterdam/ Ljubljana) – Phytoteratology
Mary Maggic (Artist, Vienna) – Milik Bersama Rekombinan
Laura Benítez Valero (Philosophy, Autonomous University of
Barcelona)
Naja Ankarfeldt | Baum + Leahy (Artists, Copenhagen/ London) –
Mammalga
16:10 – 17:50 CET Panel C | Modes of Care Moderated by Regine Rapp
Sonia Levy (Artist, London) – For the Love of Corals
Stefan Helmreich (Anthropology, MIT Anthropology, Cambridge/ US)
Nicole Clouston (Artist, Ontario) – Mud (Berlin)
Tarah Rhoda (Artist, New York) – Ourglass
India Mansour (Ecology of Plants, Institute of Biology, Free University
Berlin)
18:15
– 19:45 CET M/others and Future Humans Moderated by Christian de Lutz
Eben Kirksey (Anthropology, Alfred Deakin University, Melbourne)
Final Discussion
Regine Rapp and Christian de Lutz (Art Laboratory Berlin)
Associated
project partners: The project THE CAMILLE DIARIES arose from a generous invitation
to take part in the international curatorial swarm for the open
call »M/others and Future Humans«, initiated by Ida
Bencke (LABAE,Copenhagen, DK) and Eben Kirksey (Princeton's Institute
for Advanced Study, USA).
