Producing conventional knowledge in the academic sense does not automatically inspire action or change.
Art, as a revolutionary connection tool, can unite science and society to create change because it articulates these diverse types of knowledge visually, immersively and deliberately. Eco-art or ecological art, is often described as experimental exploratory inquiries that drive change rather than art as seen as merely a tool to communicate science to assembled audiences. There is a real potential for scientists to partner with artists and actively experiment and engage with local communities, public, and other stakeholders of their work so that they can benefit from it when the study concludes.
This workshop aims to use participatory actions to engage scientists in eco-art theory and practice to find new ways to co-design research goals and disseminate work within communities and landscapes.
About the workshop curators
Hannelie Warrington-Coetzee (she/her) is a Johannesburg-based visual artist and honorary research fellow at the Global Change Institute (University of the Witwatersrand). Her relational practice regularly centres on public spaces, where she produces interventions that range from ephemeral to permanent. Originating out of her respect and concern for the environment, Coetzee employs public experiments on nature-based solutions, most often built out of reclaimed industrial waste, to form unlikely partnerships, including with the surrounding land.
Tanaya Nair (she/her) is an early career tropical ecologist and artist from India. She is a visiting researcher at University of Witwatersrand and beginning her DPhil in Geography and Environment at University of Oxford. Her research interests in biodiversity, nature recovery, and climate change expand across scale (from fine scale to macro scale) and across various biomes (savannas, grasslands, forests). In addition to ecology, she also has a professional and educational background in performing arts and yoga and is interested in finding ways to bring together art and science in meaningful, inclusive, and collaborative settings.