Reorienting practice: The role of artists in the climate adaptation emergency

media release: Public Lecture Wednesday, October 25, 2023, 5:00 PM CDT, Elvehjem L160

Zoom link for lecture: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/my/artcolloquium  

Lecture Abstract: In the climate emergency context (or more appropriately, the ‘adaptation emergency’ since the window to adapt to catastrophic climate impacts is rapidly closing), it has become starkly apparent that the challenges climate change poses are far more severe and complex than anticipated, with existing systems and ways of thinking poorly equipped to manage. Without the luxury of time, there is an urgency in finding new ways to collaborate, experiment, plan and shift the paradigm of climate emergency engagement and disaster resilience.

At the same time, the climate emergency presents the greatest threat to the arts and culture ecosystem. The ways in which we practice and the resources that support our livelihoods and wellbeing are finite in a future impacted by climate change. It is plausible that within our lifetime we will see our venues, galleries, studios, audiences, and other platforms where we create, tour, and present affected.

Therefore, we are in a critical time as practitioners to reconsider how we might reorient our practices, bolster our capacities and voices, and how we might untether from our ways of conventionally working within and across institutional structures to adapt to the challenges ahead.

The lecture will draw on the experiences and lessons learned through Art House’s REFUGE project (2016-2022) – a multi-year transdisciplinary project – where artists, emergency service providers, local government and communities work together to rehearse climate related emergencies and explore the impact of creativity in disaster preparedness; the creative methodologies underpinning the success of Fawkner Commons – a Covid-19 response food hub; and, how speculative practices and Indigenous pedagogies might offer valuable insights in how we prepare for a future impacted by climate change.

"Pimîhkân/Pemmican do-it-together workshop and palaver"

Workshop Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 11 AM CDT. *Registration is mandatory for participation in the workshop. Please register by emailing cvc@mailplus.wisc.edu.

Workshop Abstract: Pimîhkân/Pemmican is a Métis traditional food and historically was a staple in the diet of many Indigenous people of Turtle Island (North and Central America). The name comes from the Cree word ‘pimi’ – meaning fat/grease. It is the quintessential ‘survival food’ – nutrient dense and traditionally made with dried meat, rendered fat, seasonal berries and sometimes sweetened with honey or maple syrup. Once traditionally prepared, it can have a shelf-life of decades. In this do-it-together workshop, Jen Rae will guide the making of pimîhkân/pemmican and hold a space for a participatory palaver – a knowledge circle guided by protocols from the Centre for Reworlding to explore food futures and sovereignty in the climate adaptation emergency context.