ALL MY RELATIONS; Eco-Pedagogy, Self-Cultivation and Transformative Performance Practices

"All my relations” is the English equivalent of a phrase familiar to most Native peoples of North America. It may begin or end a prayer or speech or a story, and, while each tribe has its own way of expressing this sentiment in its own language, the meaning is the same. “All my relations” is at first a reminder of who we are and of our relationship with both our family and our relatives. It also reminds us of the extended relationship we share with all human beings. But the relationships that Native people see go further, the web of kinship to animals, to the birds, to the fish, to the plants, to all the animate and inanimate forms that can be seen or imagined. [It] is an encouragement for us to accept the responsibilities we have within the universal family by living our lives in a harmonious and moral manner.

(Thomas King, All My Relations)

The purpose of this 3-day workshop event is to study the possibilities and limitations of performative arrangements to foster individual and collective transformation and aim at a more sustainable life. It is addressed to artists, researchers, and pedagogues dealing with ecology, non-human relations, and sustainable development.

There is an inherent link between performing arts and ecological sustainability. That link is based on a genuine understanding of sensibility, corporality, imagination, affect, and being-with, covering areas that traditionally have been considered as belonging to the domain of “spirituality”. The purpose of the event is to reclaim that domain and bring it literally down-to-earth, by raising the question of the personal and collective transformation as a simultaneously ecological, pedagogical, and performative practice: How can performing arts contribute to the ecological education of tomorrow’s citizenship and the urgent transformation of human behavioral patterns and values systems?

Practicalities

The workshop event is aimed at 30 participants, and it takes place on the 2–4 September 2022 at Gylleboverket (bus transportation from/to Malmö). The event is organized by Agenda 2030 Graduate School (Lund University), Öresund Collegium for Artistic Research (Malmö Theatre Academy, Lund Unversity), and Gylleboverket, a centre for ecological art and activism located in the Scanian countryside.

The workshop event will kick off with an artistic keynote and then unfold in three working groups facilitated by Steinunn Knúts-Önnudóttir, Esa Kirkkopelto, and Sodja Zupanc Lotker. The interests of the participants are taken into account while defining the focus and the working modes of each group.

How to apply

If you are interested in participating, please send us an application consisting of a one-page Word or PDF file including a short motivation + bio. Tell us what kinds of questions, problems, and phenomena you find topical and what you would like to study further with the other participants. Please send this application to jan [dot] michelsen [at] thm [dot] lu [dot] se (subject: ALL%20MY%20RELATIONS) with the words ALL MY RELATIONS written on the subject field. In any queries, please contact esa [dot] kirkkopelto [at] thm [dot] lu [dot] se.

The deadline for applications is Sunday, 22 May 2022. The applicants are informed on Monday, 30 May.

The selected applicants are asked to pay a fee of 600 SEK (around 60 €) to cover the full board during the workshop. The accommodation takes place outdoors in tents, which each participant is asked to bring along. There is also an option for indoor accommodation subject to a fee.

Organisers:

Öresund Collegium for Artistic Research in Performing Arts (Malmö Theatre Academy, LU)

Agenda 2030 Graduate School (LU)

Gyllboverket