How on Earth presents the (de)mobilizing power of eco-anxiety and discomfort

Host: Rana Ghavami

taal: English spoken
entree: This event is free to all ArtEZ staff members and students. Due to a limited space, we have to ask you to register for this event before Nov 8. Please note: You need to bring your ArtEZ pass and show it at the cash register of Focus Filmtheater.

How do we experience the overwhelming presence of climate change? We will watch the film BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER (2016) and discuss collapses of ecologies and feelings of discomfort with activist and researcher Harriet Bergman.

In the film BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER, the reincarnated protagonists Simon and Garfunkel try to seek answers to their growing sadness and anxiety, brought on in part by climate change. Their association with a more hopeful era, however, is at sharp odds with our increasingly precarious existence. How can we remain hopeful despite of our anxious feelings and increasingly precarious existence? Prior to the film screening, Harriet Bergman will talk about eco-anxiety, doom-dude protagonists, and discomfort.

Harriet Bergman researches climate change and emotions at the University of Antwerp, and practices what she preaches as part of Fossil Free Culture NL. Her academic research at the department of Philosophy focuses on political emotions and their (de)mobilizing power for social movements. After the film screening she will connect her academic work with the artistic practices of Fossil Free Culture and share with us her ideas on the ways in which the arts can play a role in climate crisis communication. Fossil free culture is a collective of artists, activists and researchers working at the intersection of art and climate activism. With their disobedient art, they seek to bring an end to oil and gas sponsorship of public cultural institutions in the Netherlands.

This event is produced in collaboration with Biënnale Gelderland and Focus Filmtheater.