2024: A year to reconnect with other possible natures
In 2024, we have fostered diverse sensorial interactions to reflect on the idea of “multiple natures”, delving into knowledge that can teach us more profoundly about the value of collective care. Crossing imageries, as a theme and direction of travel, has prompted us once more to review biocultural relationships under the lens of coexistence between species, and to rethink ways of doing conservation.
In this interview, our art, learning and conservation directors–Maya Errázuriz, Manuela Méndez and Tomás Altamirano, respectively–share their perspectives from biology, curatorship, sound art, and pedagogical explorations, among diverse worlds and imaginaries that are intertwined through flexible, collective, and dynamic processes.
Fundación Mar Adentro (FMA): What concepts and approaches have been relevant to understanding the 2024 slogan? For example, we have addressed the importance of relational views on nature at a scientific and biocultural level; cultural and educational representations of the landscape; the perspective of itinerancy from art…
Manuela Méndez (MM): Crossing imageries has been an invitation to broaden and enrich my understanding of nature and biodiversity, to contribute to strengthening the care of diverse lives and their multiple interactions. Often, a green and distant imaginary prevails, which makes it difficult for us to understand nature as an omnipresent and infinitely diverse whole. For example, the imagery of that which is outside and that must be visited, makes it difficult for us to understand the nature of our bodies, kitchens or ecological interactions mediated by digital devices. Crossing imaginaries was an invitation to move our ideas through experiences and dialogues in diversity, to become aware of challenges for the care of life that are so close and everyday that they become invisible to us.
Maya Errázuriz (ME): This theme led me to read and learn more about multinaturalism, coined by Brazilian anthropologist Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, which refers to the idea that there are multiple possible natures and a unity of spirit (or “culture”); a concept that aims at the idea of breaking down a single visual construct of “nature” to enable multiple ways of imagining, interacting, conceiving, and relating to nature. They are inspirations from Amerindian thought on the relativity of perspective, that is, thinking of a world inhabited by different subjects who apprehend from different points of view: culture or subject as a universal form and nature or object as a particular form. Thus, the curatorial approach that we have promoted in this year’s programs has sought to expand the limits of the images that we impose on nature.
Tomás Altamirano (TA): The first time I heard the slogan was in August. At the beginning, it was challenging to grasp its depth, but I predisposed myself to permeate the edges of the concepts and pathways I knew from conservation biology. An important approach was to question previous definitions and ideas, from the theory to practice. The slogan invites us to inhabit the collective and diverse realities, to dissolve boundaries, challenging Cartesian logic. We are trying to reconnect and envision broader panoramas that include diverse territories and realities, with empathy.
FMA: How have your notions of conservation expanded and what disciplines have you drawn on to continue developing your curatorial proposals, scientific research and educational visions?
MM: My notions of conservation have expanded and have focused mainly in terms of caring for life rooted in everyday sensitivity. A few months ago, I published an article in which I explored how future teachers learn about caring for biodiversity in their training experiences and I highlighted how the aesthetic and ethical dimensions come together, inspired by the work of philosopher Yuriko Saito. Through care and sensitivity we are able to live and coexist guided by our ethical principles. Currently, I have a deep interest in nourishing my educational visions from intercultural perspectives by reading South American thinkers such as Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui and her Andean thought, and the beautiful book Azmapu on Mapuche philosophy related to the care of the lof (clan or lineage) and mother earth by Elisa Loncon. I’m also interested in biocultural perspectives that consider multiple nature-culture relationships. For example, I was very inspired this year by the work of researcher Jaime Ojeda, who proposes a conceptual intervention highlighting the nature-humanity reciprocity in diverse cultures, broadening hegemonic perspectives that focus solely on the benefits of nature for people (overlooking the care of nature by many cultures), illustrated in the use of terms such as natural resources or ecosystem services.
ME: More than expanding, it has been a year of exploring, from a critical and reflective perspective, the languages and images that are associated with conservation and that delve into the idea that there is no single way to practice nature conservation. This year has inspired me to think about how different analyses brought about by the study of visual culture can intersect or influence image and data collection in the sciences in relation to the effects of AI on the way we visually model the world and how this could affect conceptions and actions for the conservation of nature. This year I read Adversarially Evolved Hallucinations by artist Trevor Paglen, edited by Anthony Downey, that explores how AI, through its generative modelling of the world, invariably distances us from the present and the future, and equates AI’s construction of the imaginary with the idea of hallucinations of our subconscious. These are speculative and abstract ideas, but I find them interesting when it comes to thinking about what effects they will have in the future on our understanding of imageries about nature and plans for protection, regeneration and restoration.
TA: My vision has been growing more complex and expanding as I project possibilities of understanding through transdisciplinarity, and particularly, through art. The exercise of trying to understand and engage in diverse collaborations implies an expansion of thinking and visualization. My previous approach had been through research and public policy in nature conservation, and in these fields, the message that resonates is that we are not succeeding, as biodiversity continues to decline and global warming keeps increasing. It is clear to me that there is a message about the importance of biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, and conscious living that cannot come from a single perspective. Thus, the need for collaboration arises to convey scientific knowledge from new viewpoints, where art plays a fundamental role.
FMA: An important emphasis that has emerged this year is the path that opens up from sound explorations. What is the potential of these approaches and how have you related to this perspective?
MM: The potential is huge. In a context where we often observe through sight (in fact, the word observe is often used as a synonym for seeing), stopping to observe through listening can awaken wonder and curiosity, central ingredients for learning. For example, this year I was invited to give a short talk about algae at the Antupirén School, and we began the day by listening to Rodrigo Ríos Zunino ‘s soundscape inspired by the question: what do algae listen to? This simple activity led us to think, imagine, and have dialogues that are very different from the usual ones, opening up perspectives. On the other hand, this year I have approached interculturality and Mapuche culture, and I have learned about the value they place on silence, listening, especially to our elders, who have so many relevant experiences and learnings to share. This year we also developed a methodology that invited us to take a silent journey and this allowed us to listen to so many voices of diverse beings, the sounds of our body and to feel within a frequency of another rhythm. There are many possibilities from sound explorations.
ME: Predisposing ourselves to connect more deeply with listening allows for one to question certain hierarchies that exist in relation to our senses. Ocularcentrism refers precisely to this, to a perceptual and epistemological bias that puts vision above other senses, and when thinking about ecology and conservation, I find it extremely enriching to position oneself from a place that actively seeks to understand and explore the world from the different senses and not just the visual. Many times, for example, nature is associated with a place that provides silence, but what is silence really? In my opinion, silence doesn’t truly exist… Following this idea, a book that I read this year, thanks to the bibliography that was given to me in a course on New Ecologies offered by the Institute for Postnatural Studies (IPNS) , left a deep impression on me when thinking about the potential that the sound dimension has. It is called The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World by David Abram, where he mentions that there is no element in the landscape without expressive power, any movement, gesture or sound is a voice, a significant expression. This is what acoustic ecology aims towards, understanding “noises” as sounds that provide information. So artistic projects/research that explore the sound dimension in nature, in my opinion, manage to materialize historically invisibilized information about nature.
TA: There is an infinite potential in terms of scientific and artistic research and learning. I began delving into acoustic explorations as I connected with the mountains, places where access is not necessarily easy. In Canada, I discovered autonomous recorders, specialized in acoustic biodiversity monitoring, not only of birds—which has been a significant area of my research—but also of a wider spectrum of biophonies (e.g., amphibians, bats, among others). The potential I initially saw in these recorders has changed significantly; this year, for instance, I started exploring climate change in acoustic terms. I ask myself how geophony changes—how the sound of the wind appears in some recordings. While it may be considered “noise” in an ornithological study and lacks value in that context, it carries a profound immersion and aesthetic pleasure, transporting us to the mountains as we listen. The sense of hearing is incredibly powerful; we often rely heavily on vision alone, but a sound can trigger various emotions and ways of understanding. In the near future, I would like to acoustically represent climate change 50 years from now based on projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
FMA: Another theme that we have explored in recent years is new narratives that are articulated through transdisciplinarity. How do you see the value of stories in relation to the Crossing Imagaries? That is to say, in that phrase there is an intention or direction of travel [1]and a journey can always imply a narrative arc.
ME: The direction we have taken as an art team has sought–through exhibitions, residencies, and Poligonal dialogues–to foster spaces for encounters that intertwine people and stories; to design sensitive experiences that generate new imagaries of nature; as well as to promote an opening of narratives/perspectives/possibilities/pluralities.
MM: Stories are very important because they sow and establish imagaries and guide people’s perception and constructs of “reality,” which contrasts with other possible perspectives. In a study that I published with collaborators in the journal Ecology and Society, we observed how future teachers knew and named multiple species of mammals and birds, taxonomic groups with a low number of species in our country, however they could only name a few insects and in in a very generic way, which at the statistical level are one of the richest and most abundant components of the diversity of our country. This perception and imagery is mediated by school books, movies, books and even scientific research that name and focus on certain species or ecosystems more than others. In this sense, art, communications, education, and research drive narratives and that is why it is so important to promote new stories in the service of caring for life.
TA: I think about non-linearity. I am not sure whether a willingness to cross imageries or a narrative about the slogan comes first; they are notions that are interconnected in some way. There are milestones associated with programs and projects, which involve sequential planning or an assembly that leads us to one or more places that are not always predefined; however, we must always imagine pathways. We trace routes through facts and actions, explicitly and tangibly, permeating boundaries. Crossing imageries invites us to adopt a critical view and questioning perspective as part of the processes of knowledge—an outlook that sets in motion narratives of simultaneous understandings coexisting around one or more topics. There are connections, scales, and different ways to enter an imaginary and its narratives, much like what happens in nature. I am interested—and fascinated— in narratives that promote empathy and the understanding that every action we take has an effect. We must nourish ourselves with narratives that cross both individual and collective imageries.
About the interviewees:
Maya Errázuriz. Art and publications director. Her curatorial research focuses on art and ecology applied to nature conservation strategies. At FMA, she also leads a micro-publisher, leads artistic research initiatives, and curates the Bosque Pehuén Residency Program, which seeks to address forest conservation from a transdisciplinary perspective.
Manuela Méndez Herranz. Director of Learning. Biologist with a specialization in the environment, Master of Science, Master of Education and PhD in Education from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Her lines of research address the intersections between ecology, education and biocultural conservation.
Tomás Altamirano. Conservation Director. His work focuses at the science-policy interface, addressing the challenges of biodiversity conservation and sustainable coexistence. At FMA, from a transdisciplinary approach, he leads strategic conservation planning, scientific work in Bosque Pehuén, research on mountain ecosystems, as well as national and international strategic partnerships.
References:
[1]As our organizational consultant Ronald Sistek points out.
