M/others M*lk

Event Introduction

The history of human cultures is made up of m/others milks that have shaped and continue to shape our bodies, our communities, our spiritual practices and our ecological worlds in important yet invisible ways. In the present day these practices, lifeways and the organisms with which they entangle us are under threat from industrialisation, colonial violence and racial capitalism.

During Night of the Arts, we will use the lens of fermentation techniques from global human-microbial cultures to explore contemporary concerns around production and consumption, in order to ask how we might live more sustainably, relationally and ethically with our food systems in the future. We will taste, listen and ferment these ideas alongside diverse processes of cultured milks (including vegan m*lks made from local grains). As part of the evenings activities you will be invited into the thermophilic space of ‘hatha yoghurt’, where you will move with, under and through micro-organismic symbiosis as a practice of ancestral worship. Collectively, we will activate a living practice of micro-biosociality as a way to relate to and take responsibility for the organisms (human, microbial and spiritual) with whom we share worlds.

You are welcome to bring your own milk cultures with you, and any milk you may have going spare/on the turn/about to spoil to ferment with. Your ‘culture’ will become a part of the Microbial Heritage Library, to be borrowed by others at this event and in the future. You will also have the opportunity to join the library as a borrower.

Every hour, on the hour there will be a special M/others M*lk ritual performed by the artists to orientate the Microbial Heritage Library. Lively conversations will continue throughout the event so you may pop in at any point.

The evening is hosted by Kaajal Modi in collaboration with artist Riina Hannula and sound artist Panu Räisänen.

Kaajal Modi (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist and researcher working through creative practices that explore how making in collaboration with diverse communities (human, microbial and otherwise) can be a way to open up new speculations on how we might create more resilient climate futures. Their practice is rooted in co-creation, and incorporates fermenting, cooking, image making, live art, sound, video and creative interactions to create lively and situated encounters between people, organisms and ecosystems in ways that invite critical reflection and action.

Riina Hannula (she/they) is an artist working with situated art, video essays, somatic experiments, and installation. They conduct doctoral research in sociology within an international hub called CSSM, a social study of microbes based in Helsinki, Finland. Their artistic and academic practice stems from multi-species care and produces stand point assembling with a more-than-human world. Riina’s work is done in radically relational settings, collaborating previously for instance with goats, micro-organisms, permaculture gardens, and a river ecosystem.

Categories

Performance, Visual arts, Gallery / museum, Food & drink