Drawing: Davi Kopenawa, The garimpeiros and the father of gold, in Kopenawa & Albert (2013)
Wednesday, July 8 2020 - 19:30 (online)
in collaboration with Zabriskie Buchladen für Kultur und Natur
Over the course of the last two years, among many worldviews we learnt about multinaturalism through Yamomani cosmologies.
Covid-19 pandemic is affecting the Brazilian Amazon, leading to the collapse of health systems in several Amazon cities, endangering indigenous ethnic groups, facilitating the clearance of huge forested plots, and, in the process, giving rise to growing concerns about the possible emergence of new transmissible zoonotic diseases. 2
It is becoming even more evident how colonial and capitalist extraction and plantation systems are destroying ecosystems, people and the planet.
To our elders, gold was just shiny flakes on the sand of the forest’s stream beds, like those we call möhere. They collected it to make a sorcery substance intended to blind people with whom they were angry. In the past, this metal dust was highly feared. [...] When the white people tear minerals out of the ground, they grind them up with their machines, then heat them in their factories. During their work a fine dust emanates from these minerals, spreading like an invisible breeze in their cities. It is a dangerous sorcery substance that gets into their eyes and makes their eyesight worse and worse. 3
Inspired by Kopenawa’s & Albert’s chapter ‘Earth Eaters’ we are dedicating this reading session to life-giving forests and those who can tell their stories.
In ‘Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club’ we read texts together related to natural sciences, art, anthropology, postcolonialism, and (post)anthropocene, chosen from a female perspective looking beyond disciplines. Those who would like to attend the reading session, please rsvp via email until the 7th of July to betweenusnature@gmail.com, and you’ll receive a selection of texts. At this reading group we will read passages together out loud and share our experiences and thoughts about the nature we live in, what it means to us, and will discuss different ways of engaging with the world we inhabit.
PLEASE NOTE: HOPING TO BE SOON ABLE AGAIN TO MEET IN PERSON,
WE ARE MEANWHILE CONNECTING ONLINE. PLEASE READ BELOW TO RVSP:
Come and join us with an open mind here:
What:The Reading Club is in English language with a limited capacity of 9 participants
Where: Online via Zoom : Please install the app on your device beforehand
When:Wednesday July 8, 2020, 19:30 (sharp!)
Who:small group of lovely, people who would like to meet you (personal rsvp is necessary: please confirm your attendance)
Why:to read together, be inspired and meet people
Note: as there is a limited capacity, if after confirming your attendance you find out that you are not able to connect,
we ask you to be kind to others and to cancel as soon as possible
Hosts:Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky, artist, and Sina Ribak, researcher for ecologies and the arts
In collaboration with Zabriskie Buchladen für Kultur und Natur
References:
1 "The Falling Sky Words of a Yanomami Shaman" by Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert. published by Harvard University Press, 2013, chapter 14, Earth Eaters
2 Sgambatti Monteiro, A., & Lima dos Santos, L. (2020). Covid-19 and the increasing fragility of the Brazilian Amazon. IASS Discussion Paper, May 2020.https://publications.iass-potsdam.de/rest/items/item_6000131_2/component/file_6000132/content
3 "The Falling Sky Words of a Yanomami Shaman" by Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert. published by Harvard University Press, 2013, chapter 15, Cannibal Gold Earth Eaters
Drawing: Davi Kopenawa, The garimpeiros and the father of gold, in Kopenawa & Albert (2013)