How Art can shape our eco-social future, 29/02 @6:30pm

How Art can shape our eco-social future
DATE: 29/02/2024
H: 18.30
LOCATION: Espronceda, Institute of Art & Culture
Moderators: Savina Tarsitano and Alessia Gervasone

The roundtable is part of the European project E-ART, co-creation, circulation, and promotion of sustainability, and is organized within the framework of the current exhibition “Voices”-  II Edition of the Cultural Diplomacy currently on view in Espronceda and curated by Savina
Tarsitano in collaboration with Victoria Tissot and Mohamed Benhadj (in partnership with the German Consulate of Barcelona) which, bringing together national and international artists, reflects on and draws attention to two important subjects in the contemporary context, such as freedom of expression and the role of refugees in society.

The E-ART project aims to promote sustainability in the field of art. It emphasizes the importance of sustainability and climate protection, seeking to make a significant impact by introducing artistic practices and research methodologies that can be considered sustainable
and eco-social. At the same time, it seeks to understand how aesthetic and more narrowly defined artistic-activist practices contribute to raising our awareness of the environmental transformation processes singularly taking place. The project is characterized by various
phases and aims to raise awareness by creating workshops, conferences, a booklet of sustainable practices, online art residencies, and artlabs aimed at the creation of sustainable artworks for local exhibitions. This initiative also seeks to raise awareness and foster a community of professionals willing to adopt these practices and promote them.

ABSTRACT OF THE ROUNDTABLE
Artistic and curatorial practices are characterized by the identification, selection, and interpretation of material and immaterial elements in order to generate new perceptions and imaginations in citizens and renew collective critical thinking. Artistic practices operate, in fact, on a symbolic level but also on a real level, because they are able to directly or indirectly influence the emotional state of the perceiver involved in the artistic experience.

Thus, artistic research must face the complex challenge of implementing environmental conservation with new aesthetic and ethical parameters with an anti-colonial and multi-species approach.

Starting with a focus on Espronceda’s work in the field of sustainability and education, this panel discussion will aim to explore how art and curatorship can promote both ethical and ecological collective awareness among citizens, addressing current social and environmental
challenges with creativity and innovation.

It also aims to reflect on how artists and curators can adopt approaches and methodologies that are considered sustainable from both social and environmental perspectives.

The panel discussion, in an open dialogue between the participants and the audience, will present and discuss questions, methodologies, and necessary skills related to this aspect of artistic freedom both from the perspective of expression and production. The aspiration is
also aimed at trying to delineate new future imaginaries that are less competitive, non-colonial, and based on the valorization of practices that can shape forms of community capable of including human and non-human rights in the decision-making process and that can
adopt principles related to the environmental sustainability, the resilience and the equitable use of natural resources.

Artists and curators can often go beyond pure aesthetics and challenge dominant narratives by questioning sometimes unsustainable practices, stimulating new connections, and fostering collaborations (with scientists, activists, policymakers, and civil society) that can contribute to a more equitable and sustainable future in this contemporary context of geopolitical
injustices.

Artistic research can be an engine of awareness and change, helping us to imagine a future that allows us to overcome anthropocentrism and safeguard the ecosystems we live with.

MODERATORS:
Savina Tarsitano and Alessia Gervasone

Production:
Liza Adamchuk
Milo de Prieto

Communication:
Renata Procopio

PARTICIPANTS:
Tanjia Grass, director of the Festival Internacional de Arte Sostenible de Catalunya:

Drap-Art

(In presence)

Cristina Pineda, director of “La Cerilla” an audiovisual production company based in Barcelona, creates pieces on topics related to sustainability, nature, and gender equality, among others: https://lacerilla.com/
(In presence)

Axelle Verges, founder of Positive Lab, an ecofeminist matrix connecting art, sciences, and cultural knowledge to generate “ecosystemic & feminine” initiatives with a strong social, environmental, and economic impact: https://www.positivelab.eu/
(Online participation)

Chiara Sagamella, artist and professor at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. In her work, which includes theoretical research, artistic practice, and pedagogy, she critically explores the complex relationship between human societies and natural ecosystems.
https://chiarasgaramella.com/
(Online participation)

Giulia Sonetti, professor of Transdisciplinary research in sustainability at CENSE – Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research and Polytechnic of Catalunya and art lover:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsonetti/?originalSubdomain=es
(In presence)

Joan Vendrell, scientific director of CACiS _ Centre d’art contemporani i de sostenibilidad de Calders, Catalunya: https://cacis.elforndelacalc.cat/
(In presence)

Carlos Monleón, conceptual artist who works between different levels of bodily sensation and perception, from the (micro)biological to the performative and social.
https://carlosmonleon.com/

(Online participation)

Merlina Rani, art curator specializing in digital media and scientific dissemination. Her research revolves around virtual environments and their connection to physicality:

(In presence)

Natalia Nupieri, fashion sustainability designer and project manager at Tecnocampus
Mataró_Cátedra de la Economía Circular y de la Sostenibilidad:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/natinupieri/
(In presence)

Claudia Placeres Gomez, researcher and gallery manager en Galeria Esther Montoriol:

galeria esther montoriol

(In presence)

Perypezie Urbane, an engaged and committed cultural organization that works to foster research on arts and [digital] cultures: https://www.facebook.com/perypezye/
(In presence)

Sara Sguotti, is an Italian-based dancer, performer, and choreographer interested in singular, plural, and collective bodies. She loves all the shapes of micro-collectivity and the tangle of thoughts.
(In presence)