“men say that one day

that lagoon will devour you

they say it will gnaw at the shoreline

chew at the roots of your breadfruit trees

gulp down rows of your seawalls

and crunch your island’s shattered bones”

Fragment from 'Dear Matefele Peinam' by Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner 

In this research group we will discuss the work of different theorists, artists and activists who analyze the climate crisis through the lens of (neo)colonialist practices that have devastated the different islands on which they and their ancestors lived. The wreckage of their present casts its dark shadows far into the future and far beyond the locality of these specific islands. 

We will come together to understand the connection between the poisoning of the drinking water in Hawaii, the radiation that continues to sicken the people of the Marshall Islands and the military bases that are built on Guam. To understand the ways in which colonialism and racial capitalism have started an ecological disaster that by now has taken a global scale. Prior to each session we will read a theoretical text in combination with a poem. And, as much as these poems mourn the loss of life in all its different forms, they also speak of resistance, endurance and cohabitation, and offer a hopeful view for our world in the face of a dark present and an uncertain future. 

 

Participation is free. To register for one or all of the sessions click on the link below. 

REGISTER HERE

In the Eye of the Storm I

Thursday 27 October 19.30 - 21.00

A decolonial Ecology: Thinking from the Caribbean World by Malcom Ferdinand & Remembering Our Intimacies Moʻolelo, Aloha ʻĀina, and Ea by Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio

In the Eye of the Storm II

Thursday 10 November 19.30 - 21.00

The Wombs of Women: Race, Capital, Feminism by Françoise Vergès & Iep Jaltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter by Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner

In the Eye of the Storm III

Thursday 24 November 19.30 - 21.00

Our Sea of Islands by Epeli Hauʻofa & The Properties of Perpetual Light by Julian Aguon 

(note: the exact texts for each session may change, all changes will be updated here)

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This research group is organised by Dutch artist Dorine van Meel and will take place in English. The texts and poems will need to be read prior to the sessions and will be sent to you by email. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Dorine van Meel (1984, NL) is an artist based between Brussels and Amsterdam who’s practice manifest as video installations, performances and collaborative projects. Van Meel’s solo work has been shown at the South London Gallery (London), the 10th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art (Berlin), W139 (Amsterdam), Extracity (Antwerpen), Transmediale (Berlin), Nottingham Contemporary (Nottingham) and KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin). Her interest in discursive practices, feminist methodologies, and self-organised forms of collaborations is reflected within the collective projects she initiates, including "The Southern Summer School" organised with Nelmarie du Preez at BAK in Utrecht and "Gentle Dust" organised with Rianna Jade Parker at Jupiter Woods in London and at the Berlin Biennale. She teaches at the Rietveld Academie and the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam.

[image credit: Dorine van Meel, Silent Echos, HD still, 2022]