Everything Exists in Darkness
Join us on October 11 for Session IV of Foreshore Immersive: Everything Exists in Darkness.
In the search for answers around the climate emergency, everything exists in darkness. It is a matter of shining the torch in the right direction.
Scottish-Métis artist and researcher Jen Rae along with Aboriginal Australian artists Kamara Bell-Wykes and Claire G. Coleman from the Centre for Reworlding will offer readings to lead into discussion on time and relationality in the climate emergency context and invite attendees to join.
Questions to be explored include:
• How do we engage with time before the end of time, when all time exists in the same moment?
• What are the conversations that we are not having now that might aid us, our loved ones and our future ancestors?
• What are the skills and knowledges at the thresholds of being forever lost, overlooked or undervalued that our future generations may need for survival?
About the presenters:
The Centre for Reworlding are a a collective of Indigenous, people of colour, settler and LGBTIQA2S+ artists, scientists, thinkers and change-makers with a track record of collaboratively working at the intersections of art, the climate emergency leadership, speculative futures and disaster resilience. They are a core group of bridge-builders and connectors with diverse and intersecting practices. The Reworlders work across multiple disciplines and are connected through several key projects operating in the climate emergency and preparedness space. Their growing body of critical work subverts conventional platforms for engagement in the climate emergency. www.centreforreworlding.com
DR JEN RAE (pronouns: she/they) is an award-winning artist-researcher of Canadian Scottish-Métis descent based in unceded Djaara Country/Castlemaine, Victoria. Jen’s practice-led expertise is situated at the intersections of art, speculative futures and climate emergency disaster adaptation + resilience – predominantly articulated through transdisciplinary collaborative methodologies and multi-platform projects, community alliances and public pedagogies. Jen is Co-founder and Creative Research Lead at the Centre for Reworlding. www.jenraeis.com
CLAIRE G. COLEMAN (pronouns: she/her) is a Noongar woman based in Naarm. Her debut novel Terra Nullius, published in Australia and in the US, won a Norma K. Hemming Award and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize. Her second novel is The Old Lie [2019] followed by Lies, Damn Lies [2021], which won the University of Queensland prize for Non-fiction, and Enclave [2022] which was long listed for the Miles Franklin Award. Claire is currently working on a commissioned play for Melbourne Theatre Company and collaborating as a writer on Robert Walton’s CHILD OF NOW. Claire is Co-founder and Writer at the Centre for Reworlding. www.clairegcoleman.com
KAMARRA BELL-WYKES (pronouns: she/her) (Jagera and Butchulla) has 20 years of experience as an award-winning, multi-disciplinary performance-maker, arts sector leader, educator, consultant, and program curator. Kamarra is currently Co-Artistic Director of ground-breaking First Nations theatre collective A DAYLIGHT CONNECTION and is highly sought after as a playwright, director, dramaturg and facilitator across the Australian arts sector.
www.adaylightconection.com.au
FORESHORE IMMERSIVE
The “foreshore” describes the land along the edge of the water that is both submerged and revealed by the tide. Very simply, it is the wet part of the beach, a place of unclear jurisdiction, and thus of contestation, friction, and constant movement. Those who dwell in this zone must continually adapt to a changing environment. The foreshore conjures histories specific to this region: narratives of trade and exchange, habitation and nourishment, resistance and violent erasure, and evokes the emergence of possible futures. The foreshore has served as a fertile operative metaphor for Other Sights’ thinking for some years, developing into several programming strains. These include the Foreshore series of research presentations (2016-18), to public programs associated with our commissioning activities.
Foreshore Immersive considers the potential of this zone in the context of response and adaptation to the pandemic, colonisation, climate crises, collective care and trauma.
Contemporary public art in British Columbia and beyond requires the creative vision and leadership of artists, writers and thinkers attending to the conditions of working in unceded territories, and to develop and strengthen partnerships between many individuals and organizations grappling with the uncertainties and challenges of the present moment. Foreshore Immersive, assesses the new conditions of public spaces at this phase in the pandemic, the ongoing urgencies of the climate crisis and the resurgence of Indigenous-led forms of scholarship and leadership. Artists, writers and others whose work exists philosophically, metaphorically and physically within the foreshore recognize the abundant potential of this interstitial space. In gathering at the foreshore, guest convenors will use the platform to network, share research, collaborate towards new workshops and partnerships and host discussions that will draw our communities of interest into relation on Musqueam, Kwantlen, and Tswwassen territory. www.theforeshore.org/
Event partner:
BLUE CABIN FLOATING ARTIST RESIDENCY is a mobile artist residency located in Vancouver British Columbia on Canada’s Pacific Coast. Currently located on a floating platform at Imperial Landing in Steveston Village, the residency gives the artist a unique perspective on the city from the water. The deckhouse is an off the grid home with modern appliances and comforts and a 360-degree view of the harbour, while the historic cabin acts as a studio for the artist’s activities. Located on the foreshore in close proximity to shopping and amenities, the Blue Cabin provides a home base in this waterfront community within the City of Richmond. The six to eight week time frame allows the artist time for solo production as well as opportunities for engagement within the community. www.thebluecabin.ca