Live on Earth - Ecofeminism and Art: a Planetary Symposium

Ecofeminism is a transnational movement that locates critical connections between gender oppression and the exploitation of natural resources. This symposium brings together an international and interdisciplinary group of thinkers and makers  approaching systemic social and ecological justice concerns through the lens of art practice, art criticism, and art history. It is centered on the experience of feminists of all gender identities, and will address a wide range of topics such as historical and new materialism, anti-colonialism, afrofuturism, food sovereignty, and queer ecology, among many others. 

This symposium is part of the public programming attached to Life on Earth: Art & Ecofeminism, a traveling exhibition staged at The Brick (Sept-Dec 2024) and West Den Haag (Feb-Jul 2025). Following the sun around the Earth, the symposium will be staged over a 24-hour span, in three 8-hour sessions; it will begin on March 21th, 2025 at Alternative Space LOOP in Seoul, South Korea, then continue at West Den Haag in The Hague, the Netherlands, and finish up with The Brick at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, California. Free and open to all audiences, this event will connect different localities contending with the contradictions and tensions between local experience and normative concepts, between local conditions and global climate models, between local advocacy and international solidarity.

Los Angeles, California

With: Jane Chin Davidson, Martina Manterola and Carmen Sera of colectivo amasijo, Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodriguez, Janet Sarbanes, Leslie Labowitz Starus, Leah Thomas, and more to be announced

Representing the Americas, the symposium at Art Center in Los Angeles will be co-facilitated by art historian and Art Center dean of the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies Jane McFadden, and Life on Earth exhibition curator Catherine Taft, deputy director and curator of The Brick. The symposium in Los Angeles will feature a Keynote, panel conversations, an interactive performance, video screenings, and celebration to close out the 24-hour event. Drawing inspiration from the scholarly publication on ecofeminist art co-edited by McFadden and Taft (forthcoming in late 2025), this day of conversations examines both ecofeminist art histories and possible futures for lasting strategies in cooperation, adaptation, rehabilitation, and creative expression. While bringing together intergenerational and interdisciplinary scholarly participants, the symposium will highlight practices in North, Central, and South America, and will feature a communal gathering by Mexico-City based art and research collective colectivo amasijo, co-presented by the L.A. nonprofits Active Cultures and The Brick. This performative workshop takes the form of a circular procession and communal meal to connect with the cycles of the traditional farming system of the Milpa, the “three sisters” technology of planting, and the spring equinox of March 21st. colectivo amasijo will guide participants through an intimate performance to touch, gather, and bind ingredients foraged from the Milpa and the nearby hills of Pasadena. It will culminate in an offering of endemic foods harvested by the artists during their agricultural journey in the Yucatán and La Milpa, La Escuela (the site of their field work).

In-person capacity is limited but this symposium will be available to stream for free. Link will be sent to attendees the week of the event.

Please note that participation in colectivo amasijo: a circular offering requires a separate RSVP.

Photo courtesy of colectivo amasijo