The event will be held on Zoom and a link will be sent to ticketholders beforehand.
Communicating with plants, landscapes and majority-animals* is a rich, joyous, multi-layered part of multispecies belonging. Whilst it is common the world over, it has been marginalised and pushed to the edges of acceptability.
WHAT TO EXPECT: This gathering is about re-normalising interspecies communication in societies who have abandoned or hidden it. Through artistic practice, including music, sculpture, installation, performance, activism and art-jewellery, we invite you to join us and explore the creative steps that can be taken towards repairing broken relationships with all species and landscapes. We do not seek to prove interspecies communication in its many forms, but to highlight it as a vital element of creativity to be re-embraced.
None of the interspecies communication methods used are new, neither are these artists the first to use them. Some are being shared by Indigenous and marginalised peoples. Others stem from neurodivergent being. Others still are linked to personal energetic practices, or to the practices of professional animal communicators around the world.
SPEAKERS: The symposium is held by ARTISTic, (ARTIST interspecies communicators), a group of artists, creatives and arts-based-researchers from around the world**. We are honoured to have as our keynote speaker, Dr. M.J. Barrett , whose ‘goal is to nurture ways of knowing and being where the more-than-human (natural) world is respected as intentional, intelligent and communicative’.
Our highlighted guest artist is Cheryl L’Hirondelle (she/her), whose work investigates and attempts to articulate the dynamism of nehiyawin (Cree worldview) in contemporary time-place with a practice that incorporates Indigenous language(s), audio, video, virtual reality, the olfactory, music and audience/user participation to create immersive environments towards 'radical inclusion.'
Your ARTISTic hosts and speakers on the day will be: Inga Hamilton (she/her), Autistic and PhD Researcher co-creating performative art-jewellery with other species; Ute Hörner (she/her), artist and Professor of Multispecies Storytelling; Franziska Lauber (she/her), MA, a specialist in animal ethics in art practice and multi-species communicator; Dr Annie Morrad (she/her), musician and multimedia artist working with avian co-creators; and Carollyne Yardley (she/her), MFA, multimedia artist communicating with Garry Oaks.
Music will be provided by Brigid Mary Prain (she/her), filmmaker and musician co-creating with the Amazon Rainforest and Cloud Forests of the Andes.
BREAKS: Attendees are encouraged to practice self care and take breaks when they need them. The symposium is neurodivergent friendly. Talks are short and there will be 3 minute moments of reflection between each speaker, featuring other species. There will be a 10 minute comfort break at after 2 speakers and a nourishment break after 4. Please look after yourself.
WHY: As the current climate catastrophe places all Earth’s species on the brink of extinction artists and the other species and entities they communicate with can offer alternative viewpoints. This symposium has been created to share the compassion, practices and methodologies that enable the presenters to live in a more connected, sustainable way.
TICKETS: We envisage a nourishing event for all who attend. Should you like to attend but are not in a position to pay the £10 ticket price, please contact the organiser through Eventbrite. Some free tickets have been created for those experiencing the financial hardship. We won’t turn anyone away due to lack of funds.
The event will be held on Zoom and a link will be sent to ticketholders beforehand.
*’majority-animals’ are all the animal species on the planet, except human animals. They have the right to be recognised as holding the majority. The term was coined by arts-based PhD researcher, Inga Hamilton and a Whale during an intuitive interspecies communication in 2022.
**We presenters from the Global North, recognise our privilege in the form of access to education, technology and healthcare built on the oppression of others that support us in creating our art practices.
