There is a direct relationship, says scholar and activist Winona LaDuke, between the loss of biodiversity and the loss of cultural diversity. Losing the ability to connect to and understand the land are in themselves acts of desertification.
Based on the idea that valuing other forms of knowledge needs to happen in order to develop new empathies and new sensitivities in relation to humans’ relationship with nature, this talk focuses on Belalcázar, Spain, where Marina Velez Vago has been working during the past seven years.
Marina presents the idea that new values and re-valuing can emerge from working-with local farmers and shepherds and looks at these through the lens of the works produced as well as through conversations, pastoral walks and interventions.
Marina Velez Vago
Marina Velez Vago is a multidisciplinary artist and researcher based in Cambridge. She's an affiliate artist at Anglia Ruskin University, a tutor at the University of Cambridge, and a member of the Dalvazza Group at SARN.
She is also the founder and organiser of Cambridge Sustainability Residency, the Sustainability Art Prize and has co-edited ROAR, a book about art and sustainability.
Artist statement:
I am an Argentinian-Spanish artist and researcher based in Cambridge, UK. My art practice is informed by issues related to sustainability and I am interested in people's behaviour and the social construction of value/s. In my practice, the idea of value and worth act as the emergent that highlights traceability of more complex issues, mainly related to the problematics of the Anthropocene. I use photography and video to explore these as well as more ephemeral interventions such as conversations, pastoral walks and shared work.
Instagram @marinavelezvago
www.marinavelez.com
Event presented as part of ARU Discover series.
To book please visit: https://aru.ac.uk/community-engagement/aru-discover-the-rural-imagination
