Whose creativity? Explorations of interspecies being and making
You are cordially invited to session #11 of In the Making, a public series by the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) and Art Institute West Den Haag. In this series, different practices of research in the arts are presented.
The climate catastrophe has thrown a sharp light on our relationships with non-human animals and triggered widespread interest in transforming the way we live with these ‘kin’. Artists and artistic researchers have not been slow to respond, so there is a growing field of interspecies making and reflection, particularly in the fields of sound art, film and creative writing.
In this event we focus on two contrasted research projects - golden eagles in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, and humpback whales in the Pacific Ocean. Through a combination of presentations and conversation, we will explore some of the questions that emerge when researching interspecies relationships through the lenses of artistry and creativity.
Key questions
How can we learn to recognise, and engage with, the creative practices of non-human animals? To what extent is such activity transformative (and for whom)? How can climate change be influenced by non- human animals? How do non-human creative agencies differ between species (e.g. the golden eagle v. humpback whales?) What human and non-human creative practices emerge in the context of domesticated versus wild non-human lives (golden eagles inhabit both dimensions)? Is it appropriate to talk of ‘leadership’ in interspecies performances?
Presenters
Laura Lauta van Aysma
Laura Lauta van Aysma is a musicologist and singer, currently a PhD candidate at ACPA. Since 2009 she has been researching humpback whale song in Maui, Hawaii, initially through the lenses of bio and zoomusicology (Master cum Laude, University of Amsterdam). Her doctoral work explores how we can engage the creative practices of humpback whales in interspecies artistic research.
Laura Lauta van Aysma
Laura Lauta van Aysma is a musicologist and singer, currently a PhD candidate at ACPA. Since 2009 she has been researching humpback whale song in Maui, Hawaii, initially through the lenses of bio and zoomusicology (Master cum Laude, University of Amsterdam). Her doctoral work explores how we can engage the creative practices of humpback whales in interspecies artistic research.
Federica Nardella
Federica Nardella has completed her AHRC-funded PhD in Ethnomusicology at King’s College, London. She has researched the late nineteenth-century Ottoman popular art song form şarkı in relation to literacy, linguistics, language pedagogy and debate, and the emergence of the bureaucracy and the press. Her current postdoctoral project explores the use of vocality in constructing partnerships between eagle-hunters and golden eagles in Kyrgyzstan.
Federica Nardella
Federica Nardella has completed her AHRC-funded PhD in Ethnomusicology at King’s College, London. She has researched the late nineteenth-century Ottoman popular art song form şarkı in relation to literacy, linguistics, language pedagogy and debate, and the emergence of the bureaucracy and the press. Her current postdoctoral project explores the use of vocality in constructing partnerships between eagle-hunters and golden eagles in Kyrgyzstan.
Rachel Beckles Willson
Rachel Beckles Willson is Professor by Special Appointment, Intercultural Performing Arts at ACPA and at Codarts, Rotterdam. She is a widely-published, award-winning scholar, multi-instrumentalist and composer.
Rachel Beckles Willson
Rachel Beckles Willson is Professor by Special Appointment, Intercultural Performing Arts at ACPA and at Codarts, Rotterdam. She is a widely-published, award-winning scholar, multi-instrumentalist and composer.