TRANSFORMATION in a changing climate

 

Transformation in a changing climate was an international conference in Oslo, Norway on the 19th -21st June 2013. The aim of this conference was to bring together diverse perspectives on transformation, and to generate cutting-edge discussions on deliberate, ethical and sustainable transformation in response to the complex global challenges associated with climate change. It gathered a broad range of perspectives from science, governments, businesses, civil society, the humanities and arts on climate change discussing the challenges humanity is confronted with and what personal, cultural, institutional, and systems transformations are called for towards a sustainable, resilient and equitable future. The arts was integrated into the conference with works and presentations by Amy Balkin US, Tone Bjordam NO and Future Farmers US. I curated the arts for the conference and co-organised the conference and catalogue together with Department of Sociology and Human Geography at Oslo University, CICERO (Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research) and Stockholm Resilience Centre.

Stills from "Critical Transitions" by Tone Bjordam

Future Farmers / Bakehouse Bjørvika

Amy Balkin "Public Smog"

NEW AGRARIAN MYTHOLOGY

Collaborative baking happening with Amy Franceschini & Future Farmers/Bakehouse Bjørvika and 50 eager delegates from the conference  Transformation in a Changing Climate, Oslo, Norway.

DSNY:Stamsund

Breath and Revolution showing at December Store New York, 7-9 June, Stamsund Theatre Festival Lofoten, Norway

TREES - the lungs of the earth

This project is about getting children to connect with the wonders of trees through aesthetics, poetics, play and stories. The project is a collaboration between storyteller Georgiana Keable and myself for the project Kunstsprang - a Norwegian initiative working with art and ecology for young children. Through storytelling and creative work with the children we focused on the relationship between humans and nature that inspired the children to think of trees not only as a resource we can use for our own benefit but as an arena for play, sensory experiences and aesthetic development. In this way we want to facilitate a more holistic experience of trees, nature and the environment. The project was in two parts with four days in May 2013 and 5 days in September 2013 to enable us to bring the seasons into the work. Our goal with the project is that the kids involved should be allowed and given time to dwell on the various experiences we introduce and with plenty of room for imagination, curiosity and wonder. For more information and pictures see the website (in Norwegian only).

  

CRAFTS AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Out of our Minds - the unravelling of a gentle revolution: Talk at the conference Crafts and Social Change organised by Norwegian Crafts at Toynbee Hall, London on the 8-9 May.
Also showed my film Revolution!

DAWN CHORUS

LIVING CULTURES WORKSHOP

Reclaiming ancient cultural practices by mindfully making and sharing sourdough bread from a 23 year old Russian rye culture, yoghurt from a 100 year old Eastern European culture and delicious kefir from real kefir grains originating from Caucasus. And whilst the bread and yogurt was fermenting we were exploring the wonderful world of bacteria as transformers and change makers to see how fermentation could be a model for re-imagining a more thriving and sustainable human culture! 

BLEKKHUSET

In March I toured with artist collegue Elisabeth Alsos Strand around many schools in Salten in Nordland - North Norway with the project Blekkhuset.

"In our time the written language has undergone a major transformation. From hand-written letters to the touch of a screen. But are there qualities in a hand written letter which we are missing in our digital age? 

It is the sensuous experience of letters and handwriting as an art form that is explored in this project. The participants will get a glimpse of the history of letters and writing and get given a practical crash-course in calligraphy which is the art of forming letters. They will experiment with different ways of forming letters and try out many different writing tools and gain inspiration and knowledge to write their own hand written letter. This project is meant to inspire children and teachers to capture the magic of letters and rekindle the magic and art of hand writing."