In May 2023, we took our annual With For About conference outdoors at Incredible Edible and Court Hey Park in Knowsley, with Care and the Commons as our theme. We invited a number of artists and practitioners to explore the interconnectedness between humans, more-than-humans, place and land, within the context of the climate and displacement crises, providing us with the provocation to:
‘go beyond “othering” nature and reimagining a reciprocal relationship with it’.
The Programme
The day included two keynote speeches (from Radha D’Souza and Youngsook Choi ), followed by workshops and discussions with artists Sean Roy Parker, Frances Disley, Taey Iohe, Liz Posthlethwaite and Lucy Powell. We were also joined by Fiona Whelan as our Listener-in-Residence, and Grace Collins, who captured their reflections in a piece of writing and a series of illustrations - available to download below. We also co-created a glossary of terms with our invited artists, also available below.
Land and People: Divorce of the Epoch with Radha D’Souza
We invited writer, scholar, lawyer and social justice activist Radha D’Souza, to think about how we might ‘go beyond “othering” nature and reimagine a reciprocal relationship with it'. Presented with Sunera Thobani.
Reflections on In Every Bite of the Emperor with Youngsook Choi
Artist and researcher Youngsook Choi and writer, curator, and arts organiser Wendi Sia share their work on the ongoing ecological grief project In Every Bite of the Emperor and speculate on interspecies solidarity in times of climate crisis.
Resources
- Listening, Interpretation, Colonisation and Decentering: Reflections on WFA by Fiona Whelan
- WFA Care and the Commons illustrations by Grace Collins
- WFA Care and the Commons Glossary
- Youngsook Choi: Reflections on Every Bite of the Emperor Transcript
- WFA Care and the Commons Film Transcript
- Radha D'Souza: Divorce of the Epoch Transcript
- WFA Reading and Listening Resources
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