Explore the interwoven connections between the climate crisis, migration, culture, tradition and memory in a day of talks and listening sessions.
This is a partnership between the Eden Project, Art Reach and Counterpoints Arts, bringing artists Dhaqan Collective and Kaajal Modi to the Eden Project for a public programme exploring the themes of migration and climate justice.
These talks and sessions are free with valid Eden admission. For further information about this event please email art@edenproject.com.
Above the desert and below the water: panel discussion
Time: 11am–12.30pm
Location: Tipi
Join us for a panel discussion addressing the themes of migration and climate justice in relation to oral traditions and memory.
This discussion will be facilitated by Jelena Sofronijevic, and will be recorded and hosted on the EMPIRE LINES podcast, featuring Fozia Ismail and Ayan Cilmi from Dhaqan Collective, artists Kaajal Modi and Sovay Berriman, as well as environmental humanities university lecturer Jim Scown.
Image: Shoona Goolab
Below the water: waterway listening with Kaajal Modi
Time: 1.30–3pm
Location: Tipi*
In this session, join artist and researcher Kaajal Modi, and take part in “embodied listening”, featuring field recordings from waterways around Britain, including migration stories and reflections from marginalised communities.
*This session has limited capacity, so participation will be on a first-come-first-served basis. It will begin and end in the Tipi, with a guided visit to the Rainforest Biome.
Above the desert: listening session with Dhaqan Collective
Time: 2–3.30pm
Location: Tipi*
Join artists Fozia Ismail and Ayan Cilmi, from the Dhaqan Collective, for an engaging listening session, which will highlight the significance of Somali women’s weaving songs and oral storytelling traditions. You will be guided through an audio soundscape that explores the cultural importance of the Galool tree, and concludes with networking and Somali hospitality.
*This session will begin and end in the Tipi, with a guided visit to the Mediterranean Biome.
About the contributors
Dhaqan Collective
Dhaqan Collective is a Somali feminist art group based in Bristol, led by Ayan Cilmi and Fozia Ismail. Applying Somali nomadic stories and artistic practices to support the Somali diaspora to find joy and healing as a way of building a just climate future.
Kaajal Modi
Kaajal Modi is a multidisciplinary artist-researcher in climate heritage whose creative practice incorporates sensoriality, embodiment and storytelling in order to co-create with diverse communities (human, microbial and ecological).
Sovay Berriman
Sovay Berriman‘s work is rooted in the experience of being Cornish, neurodivergent, queer and from a low socio-economic background – the grounding and mutable aspects of these identities, emotions and politics informing their sense of place and practice.
Jim Scown
Jim Scown is Lecturer in Environmental Humanities at the University of Exeter, co-director of the Centre for Environmental Arts and Humanities, Food, Farming and Countryside Commission advisor and BBC New Generation Thinker. His research focuses on the intersections of soils, literature and science.
This day programme is presented in partnership with Eden Project and Art Reach.
Lead image: Paul Gilbey
