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Land Body Ecologies Festival Day Two

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Past
  • Free
  • Festival
Photograph of a farmer getting ready to harvest his organic crop of native Ragi in Kariyappanadoddi, India. Behind him are hills and a small single storey building. Interwoven into the scene is a graphic element made up of thin red drawn circular lines, which create a larger organic pattern behind the farmer.
Farmer Basavaraj in Kariyappanadoddi inspects his ragi crop before harvesting near Bannerghatta, India. © Quicksand.

What you’ll do

Explore the deep connections between mental health and ecosystem health in this four-day festival. Take part and experience performances, food, workshops, discussions, music, films and more. 

Events are organised by access or interpretation type for easier finding here.

The programme is created by Land Body Ecologies (LBE), from teams across India, Uganda, Kenya, Thailand, the UK and the Arctic.

LBE is a research network of artists, researchers, designers, conservationists, technologists and activists from fields including psychology, arts, ecology, sociology, medicine and human rights. LBE seeks to understand lived experiences of land trauma among marginalised communities.

A range of handcrafted items and publications from LBE’s communities and collaborators will be available at the Wellcome Shop for the duration of the festival.

The Land Body Ecologies festival is produced by Unbox Cultural Futures and Invisible Flock.

Dates

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Past

Past events

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  • Installation
Boalno
Reading Room
Experience the sound of being in the centre of 30,00 circling reindeer during the annual reindeer corral in the indigenous-governed Sápmi area of the Arctic via audio recorded at the top of Boalnotjåhkkå mountain during May 2022.

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  • Workshop
Communal Meitophi
Restaurant, level 2
Make and eat meitophi, a Pgak’yau snack made by pounding together sticky rice with sesame, grains, nuts or any other dry ingredients from the rotational farming field, with a mortar and pestle. You will combine ingredients from across all of the LBE hubs and create a new recipe. Suitable for vegans.

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  • Discussion
Stories as Evidence
Henry Wellcome Auditorium
Join Claudia Hammond, Julia Gillard and a panel of experts from around the world as they consider the power of storytelling in science and global health. What counts as ‘evidence’ and what is lost when stories are excluded? You can ask questions or just listen. The event will be recorded and broadcast on the BBC World Service as part of ‘The Evidence’ series. After broadcast, this episode will be available on the BBC website.
  • British Sign Language
  • Speech-to-text

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  • Workshop
Weaving Land and Health
The Studio
Join artists and weavers Catherine Morland, Sylvia Kokunda and Sheila Ghelani to weave using raffia, grass and other materials. You will consider where the materials for the cultural practices you engage with come from, and in what ways you are rock, soil, water or air.

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  • Workshop
Meitau-Making
Restaurant, level 2
Make and eat meitau, a rice and bean snack wrapped in banana leaf that is often made as a gift for partygoers in Ban Nong Tao in Northern Thailand. Suitable for vegans.

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  • Workshop
Reimagining Conservation Policy
The Studio
Join Quicksand and Nishant Srinivasaiah in an interactive workshop to imagine a more inclusive and effective conservation policy in the future. You will have the opportunity to participate in activities with diverse participants and learn from insights that the workshop hosts will share.

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  • Performance
In the End of This World
Reading Room
Experience ‘In the End of This World’, a performance lecture performed by Sámi artist Jenni Laiti. Jenni will present notes and diary entries on living at the end of the world in the rapidly changing Arctic climate. The performance will include a newly commissioned film by photographer Carl-Johan Utsi.

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  • Installation
Microtonal
Crypt Gallery
Witness the sight and sound of 200 borindos, small clay wind instruments made by master potter Allah Jurio from the earth of the Sindh region of Pakistan. The borindos in the installation respond live to the sounds of the gallery space, field recordings from Sindh, and the music of Faqir Zulfiqar playing the instrument. ‘Microtonal’ is a collaboration between Faqir Zulfiqar, Allah Jurio and Invisible Flock, and was originally commissioned by Karachi Biennale with support from the British Council Pakistan. The Crypt Gallery is located in St Pancras New Church, Duke’s Road, Off Euston Road WC1H 9AD. The Gallery is reached by going down steps with a handrail; there is no ramp or lift, and the floor in the Crypt is uneven.

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  • Installation
Stories of Entanglement
The Forum
Visit the Land Body Ecologies’ ‘Stories of Entanglement’ installation to experience objects, photographic books, immersive sound and video installations, and live Ogiek hive-building. The installation will embody real stories and lived experiences of land-dependent, marginalised communities across India, Kenya, Uganda and the Arctic.

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  • Installation
Asking the Salmon to Return
Ground floor Atrium
Watch Jenni Laiti’s performance for video, which asks the salmon to return to the river. Atlantic salmon are an ecologically and culturally key species in Sápmi, the traditional indigenous territory of the Sámi people in Northern Europe. Over recent years, the changing climate across the Arctic has led to the decline of salmon populations. The word ‘bivdit’ in Sámi language means to catch something, but also to ask for something from someone. The video is 6:01 mins and will be playing on a loop.

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  • Installation
Virran Mukana
Staircases and landings
Experience a sound installation by Chris Watson, featuring recordings from the Arctic sea ice to a freshwater lake and the dawn chorus at the midnight sun beyond, with the hydrodam power station blocking the Kemijoki river in between. On each of the six floors you can explore different parts of the journey.

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  • Installation
Ovdavázzit – Forewalkers
Ground floor Atrium
‘Ovdavázzit – Forewalkers’ is an installation of 37 freestanding Sámi walking sticks forming a path, created by Sámi artists Outi Pieski and Jenni Laiti. The constellations of the sticks bring together indigenous knowledge, ancestral technology, traditional crafts and sovereignty. This will be the UK premiere of this installation.

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  • Chill out
Chill-Out Room
Viewing RoomStudio Breakout Room
Any time during the festival that you want to find a space away from the programme of activities, you can come to the Chill-Out Room to lie down or relax. There will be low lighting, comfortable seating, cushions and mats throughout the room. Make use of ear defenders, earplugs, board games and materials with different textures.

Need to know

Location

This is an event with several different activities. Check specific sub-events for their locations.

For more information, please visit our Accessibility page. If you have any queries about accessibility, please email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call

Our event terms and conditions

About your hosts

Land Body Ecologies

Land Body Ecologies project is a global transdisciplinary research network and the first international residents of The Wellcome Hub. The collaborators and members of the Land Body Ecologies project participating in the festival are Invisible Flock, Quicksand, Minority Rights Group International, Kaisa Keratar, Dr Outi Autti, Action for Batwa Empowerment Group, Sylvia Kokunda, Emmanuel Barugahare, Turyomurugyendo Elivera, Eliphazi Kapere, Dr Ayesha Ahmad, Sheila Ghelani, Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program, Daniel Kobei, Lilian Maina, Samson Luari, Ms Emily Katais, Mr John Sironga, Bharat Mirle, Chris Watson, Professor Ilan Kelman, Jennifer Katanyoutanant, Jenni Laiti, Dr Nicole Redvers, Nishant Srinivasaiah, Outi Pieski, Siwakorn Odochao, Vishalakshi Padmanabhan, Faqir Zulfiqar, Carl-Johan Utsi, Arjun Kapoor.

The Hub

The Hub is Wellcome’s dedicated space for transdisciplinary research, situated on the fifth floor of Wellcome Collection. The Hub Award is a funded two-year residency, granted to a collaborative research group that brings together people from different backgrounds such as academia, advocacy and the arts to explore specific questions of human health. Land Body Ecologies holds the current Hub Award. The next grant call will be announced in 2024.