In preparation for the E17 Art Trail 2021 we are hosting a series of 3 live panel discussions to share the different ways artists and creatives are adapting their practise in response to the climate emergency.

This event brings an international panel of creatives each with their own approach to developing sustainable artistic practice through the materials they use.

During the afternoon we'll invite you into Lola Lely's studio, and welcome Yasmin Ostendorf to introduce the Future Materials Bank. Completing our line up we are thrilled to announce that Api Ascaso will also be joining us to perform "Cantos de la Tierra" ("Songs of the Earth") using her shamanic drum that she recently made with Melonie Syrret @thedrumwoman as well as conversing about her use of materials from nature.

You'll be encouraged to bring your own questions to the discussion chaired by Sue Wheat - broadcaster and climate activist.

Artillery will be sharing updates about our preparations for the E17 Art Trail.

Please let us know if you have an event or project coming up that you would like to mention at the end of the event by emailing events@artillery.org.uk

You can catch up with Creative Climate Talk 1 here.

Introducing our panel:

Api Ascaso originally trained as a classical pianist, discovering the power and versatility of her voice through live performances, becoming a multi-instrumentalist singer and song writer.Following her fascination for cultures, art, music and drums, Api dived into exploring different musical styles and expressions on her journeys around the world, including Spanish folk, Afro-Latin, African and Persian rhythms, Hindustani melodies, Afrobeat, jazz and folk, which resulted in creating several fusion projects.Latest collaborations include live improvisation for Hagit Yakira's contemporary dance company's 'If one keeps walking'.

Together with participating and initiating many music collaborations, Api continues to compose and create her solo music. Her music is an invitation to face social and environmental issues, as well as an opportunity to breathe, connect and celebrate life.Api is organising and leading music workshops for all ages and is about to launch a series of singing workshops which connects to the healing properties of the voice.

As well as a professional musician, Api works for the NHS as a clinical lead Occupational Therapist. Her second passion it is, supporting families and young children with complex needs. Take a long breath in and out and listen to her music here: soundcloud/anantata

Yasmine Ostendorf, curator and researcher, introduces some of her global initiatives including the Future Materials Bank - a growing online resource to support the transition towards more sustainable artistic practice.

Yasmine convenes the Green Art Lab Alliance, a network of 45 cultural organisations in Europe, Latin America and Asia that is in pursuit of social and environmental justice. The alliance is the fruit of over a decade of research undertaken across Asia, Latin America and Europe on artists proposing alternative ways of living and working – ways that ultimately shape more sustainable, interconnected and resilient communities.

She has extensively worked on international cultural mobility programmes and on the topic of art and ecology, including for Julie’s Bicycle (United Kingdom), Bamboo Curtain Studio (Taiwan), Cape Farewell (United Kingdom), Trans Artists (Netherlands) and Labverde (Brazil). She is the author of the series of guides “Creative Responses to Sustainability", published by the Asia-Europe Foundation (Singapore) and the Ecologic Institute (Germany). She works as an associate curator for Valley of the Possible (Chile) and for C-Platform (China). She has been curator-in-residence in various art institutions, including Kunst Haus Wien (Austria, 2017) and Capacete (Brazil, 2019-2020). Since 2017, she is the founder and Head of the Nature Research Department at the Jan van Eyck Academy (Netherlands) and the initiator of the Van Eyck Food Lab.

She has been organising Food Art Film Festivals showcasing innovative and sustainable food/art practices whilst building local networks between artists and farmers.

Lola Lely is an artist, designer and maker whose recent interests include using plants and other natural materials to create dyes, pigments and paints combining the traditional expertise with contemporary aesthetic in her Walthamstow and Barking studios: Lola Lely Studio and WAX Atelier. Her creative practice has various strands: she has worked on public art projects, exhibited design work at international galleries and run workshops aimed at promoting sustainable craft techniques within marginalised communities. A large part of her recent work has focused on how sustainable, low-cost craft processes can be used to produce textiles that are distinctive, well-designed and practical. In 2018 she demonstrated and exhibited her natural dyes and handmade paints in the Artisans Retreat of the Chelsea Flower Show featured in Flora Magazine. Lola was selected as the Same Sky commissioned artist this summer, and Artillery looks forward to collaborating in 2021 to support her in her community fabric dying project.

“Lola Lely practices craft in fresh and unexpected ways by linking contemporary practices and technology with age-old techniques, from patinated bronze, to indigo dyed wooden furniture, even creating her own kit of tools to produce her work.” The New Craftsmen

Lola holds a Masters in Design Products from the Royal College of Art. She has taught design and craft subjects at Central Saint Martins, Middlesex University and also at the University of the Creative Arts.

Her work has been exhibited internationally including, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Royal Academy of Arts, the Design Museum in London and at Art Basel in Switzerland.

Supported by Connecting People and Places, co-funded by Foundation for Future London and City of London