Actions for the Earth: Art, Care, & Ecology

Blue Star Contemporary announces an exhibition curated by Sharmila Wood and produced by Independent Curators International (ICI) on view from June 2 through September 3, 2023. Actions for the Earth is a traveling exhibition that considers how artistic practices use kinship, healing, and restorative intervention to foster a deeper consciousness of our interconnectedness with the Earth.

This exhibition turns to a group of interdisciplinary artists to engage with the overlapping, worldwide crises of our time. Ongoing climate change, entrenched social inequity, and renewed concerns over public health have all underscored the need for approaches that take on global responsibilities while caring for our local environment. For decades, artists have sought to find new antidotes to oppressive structures of power and promoted a greater understanding of the many ways that nature, health, and sustainability are intertwined.

Actions for the Earth presents the work of eighteen intergenerational artists and collectives who place action, instruction, reciprocity, and exchange at the forefront of their practices. By sharing their participatory artistic interventions and healing strategies alongside research in ecology, science, and ancient beliefs, these artists remind us that we are connected within a constellation of living networks, inseparable from the planet and its environments. Artworks on view create space for the honoring of ancestors, foreground the significance of Indigenous knowledge, and engage in speculative imaginings through science fiction and network sciences—organic, digital, and spiritual.

In its curatorial approach, Actions for the Earth acts as a resource for studying our current times. The works on view not only emphasize themes of learning, care, and intimacy but offer concrete knowledge by inviting the public to participate in actions such as instruction-based meditation and deep listening activities. The life of these works, and the interventions they propose, extend far beyond the scope of the exhibition to engage people in their personal contexts. 

Artists: Ackroyd and Harvey, Lhola Amira, Arahmaiani, Sayan Chanda, Hylozoic/Desires (Himali Singh Soin & David Soin Tappeser), lololol, Ana Mendieta, Zarina Muhammad, Patrina Mununggurr, Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Tabita Rezaire, Eric-Paul Riege, Cecilia Vicuña, Katie West, and Zheng Bo

Actions for the Earth: Art, Care & Ecology is a traveling exhibition curated by Sharmila Wood and produced by Independent Curators International (ICI), New York. Lead funding is provided by the Hartfield Foundation as part of an initiative to support ICI’s commitment to new curatorial voices who will shape the future of the field, and ICI’s Curatorial Intensive alumni as they move through the stages of their career. Actions for the Earth is made possible with the generous support of ICI’s Board of Trustees and International Forum.

The presentation at Contemporary at Blue Star has been organized in collaboration with Jacqueline Saragoza McGilvray.

ABOUT THE CURATOR

Sharmila Wood applies a multidisciplinary approach to curating that weaves together writing, research, design, and communications. Her latest project, Actions for the Earth: Art, Care and Ecology is an exhibition being produced by Independent Curator’s International. The tour begins at Contemporary at Blue Star opening June 2, 2023 – September 3, 2023. The project exemplifies Sharmila’s interest in creating participatory exhibitions and fostering dialogue around ecological, political, and social issues that could expand the possibilities of future utopias on planet Earth.

She is Director at Tarruru, a purpose-driven multidisciplinary creative studio, and consultancy. In this role, Sharmila has delivered public art projects, developed programming, led concept ideation, and created the blueprint for an iconic new cultural center that rethinks the role of cultural institutions in civic, cultural, and economic life. Sharmila’s curatorial practice reflects her interest in art and design movements that engage with contemporary issues. As an Australian of mixed ancestry, she is interested in hybridity and globalizing encounters that engage with heritage, tradition, and diverse knowledge systems. 

Sharmila has provided creative direction on major publishing and design initiatives and managed commissions across the arts. Her writing has been published in numerous books and journals. She has also delivered a number of editorial projects. Her international exchange and cultural diplomacy initiatives have received award recognition.

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