On October 15, we're pleased to invite you to Rights of Nature, a two-day cross-disciplinary program by SLARG, in close collaboration with Klimaatfestival Antwerpen, FOMU, Curatorial Studies KASK Gent, and Kunsthal Extra City. Rights of Nature explores the role of law, philosophy and arts in relation to "rights of nature". It brings together various forms of research and translates this to a wide audience. At Kunsthal Extra City, we will house two events as part of Rights of Nature.

→ Both activities are free and open to all, but please register here.

'Curating with the planet, hydrofeminism and other approaches'
A lecture by Heidi Ballet
Between 15:00 - 16:00

In her lecture, curator Heidi Ballet talks about how water offers new perspectives in curatorial practice. Water is seen here in the geographical sense, through a renewed focus on oceans as an important territory, and in the ecological sense, by approaching water as matter shared and recycled between humans and the environment, as hydrofeminism states. Heidi Ballet is a curator at DE SINGEL in Antwerp. She curated, among others, Beaufort 2021, Beaufort 2018 and LIAF 2017 in Lofoten (Norway). Click here to discover more.

'Silent Echoes'
Video and performance piece by Dorine van Meel and Sami El-Enany
Between 16:30 - 17:30

Silent Echoes is a video and performance piece developen by Dutch artist Dorine van Meel in collaboration with sound artist Sami El-Enany. The project includes poetic and musical contributions by artists, writers, singers Khairani Barokka, Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, Serie Barford, Ucetōt Lorok and Dorine van Meel. The work is a collaborative effort and develops over time on different platforms, accumulating contributions.

Silent Echoes addresses the climate crisis through various poetic contributions written by poets, activists and singers who come from different islands across the Pacific Ocean. Each poem or song highlights different ways in which the climate crisis unfolds on these islands through the workings of (neo-)colonialist practices, past and present. Whether it is because of the poisoning of the water due to the presence of military remnants from World War II, because of the clearing of the original forests and the planting of endless fields of palm trees for the production of palm oil, because of the suppression of the language and culture of the indigenous population by the colonial settlers or because of the nuclear tests that were carried out on the atolls without any regard of the people living there.

As much as these poems and songs 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. Click here to discover more.