WILD WITHIN / EXHIBITION
In search of the wild beneath - skin, soil, planet (08°N, 78°N, 23°S)
Wild Within is a space for Londoners to re-connect with some of the wildest places remaining on our planet and in turn reflect on their own communities, habitats and themselves at a moment of ecological crisis, in transformative, hopeful and inspiring new ways.
Audiences will be offered a place in the city to breathe, reconnect and alter their existing perspectives on nature & community in what can be an isolating urban context. We will investigate the many benefits of nature for humans from personal well-being to ways of building a more sustainable future for all.
With local partners and events we will target non traditional audiences through youth, ecological and migrant groups in London’s most economically & culturally diverse areas. Featuring over 30 artists from five continents, showing work developed in remote and wild parts of our planet.
PRESS RELEASE
Wild Within is an exhibition for people to connect with some of the wildest, most remote parts of our planet and their corresponding social and ecological discourses in the heart of London. Responding to different environments, through a plethora of recent journeys across distinct biomes to question what it means to be human in the context of the anthropocene.
Exploring complex and chaotic systems of natural and cultural diversity where all and everything is, is, in someway, connected. Through shifting physical and cultural perspectives we are, in turn, able to reflect on our own communities, habitats and ourselves.
Audiences will be guided through a miscellany of works, research, collaborations, talks, performances and reflections developed over the past two years through a research-project involving residencies in some of the most remote parts of our planet - from the Scandinavian Arctic to South and Central American Tropic and Desert regions with more than 50 international artists and creative minds, in collaboration with rural communities and indigenous groups.
The purpose of this show is to explore ideas of connection, relationships and interdependence between cities and natural environments - humans and nature around the globe. To articulate how important cultural and natural diversity is to humans, for our souls and imaginations to our health and habitats, addressing current streams of socio-political problems and an environmental crisis that threatens our very existence.
GUEST PROJECTS
Guest Projects is an initiative conceived by Shonibare Studio to offer the opportunity for artistic practitioners, of any artistic discipline (dance, visual arts, music) to have access to a project space. La Wayaka Current artist-led initiative was selected to occupy the space and create a public exhibition and events program between July 16 - August 14.
Alongside Regent’s Canal, Guest Projects at 1 Andrews Road E8 4QL, provides an alternative universe and playground for artists. It is a laboratory of ideas; a testing ground for new thoughts and actions.
Shonibare Studio is run by Yinka Shonibare MBE - a British-Nigerian artist who's work explores cultural identity, colonialism and post-colonialism within the contemporary context of globalisation. They have hosted over 30 group exhibitions since 2014 along with other activities and events making them both a recognised space for new projects and a functional, practical space to create great exhibitions for the public featured in GQ, Magazine and The Southbank Show.
PARTICIPANTS
We will involve over 50 cross-continental creative participants including interdisciplinary artists and practitioners with emerging to experienced backgrounds, working within environmental contexts.
LA WAYAKA CURRENT
La Wayaka Current is an artist-led initiative, focused on developing ways to engage people with environmental and philosophical questions through self-reflection, arts and culture. In response to the increased loss of connection between humans and the natural world, and to corresponding, globalised, sociopolitical and environmental problems, La Wayaka connect artists, and ultimately audiences, with natural environments.
Since 2015, they have developed projects in remote locations across the planet, enabling artists to develop new perspectives through site-responsive creative practice, and supporting the transmission of this work into public exhibitions. In Arctic Scandinavia, the Chilean desert, and the indigenous comarca of Guna Yala, Panama, La Wayaka connect to indigenous and ecological knowledge through developing fluid programmes with local communities and partners. www.lawayakacurrent.com
EVENTS PROGRAMME
We will be running a programme of events to correspond with the exhibition including an opening reception, live performances, workshops, participatory events, talks, film screenings, dinners and more. Check our programme throughout the exhibition on www.lawayakacurrent.com/wildwithin
