Fertile Soil

Loosely inspired by Lauren Berland’s Cruel Optimism that spurred a series of remote discussions about optimism’s place in creating new ecological realities, Fertile Soil invites the personal worlds of eight women and minority artists, writers & researchers to intertwine in a five-day residency. The participants will now gather in person and bring a breadth of contexts, backgrounds & media to further reflect on what it means to make, think & cope today in light of tomorrow. Seeing gardens as hideaways, means of creating new systems and places of nurturing hope, the artists will come together to sow their seeds on new Fertile Soil, and trace ways on how to re-enchant the gardens of our minds & keep cultivating in a contaminated landscape. Ceramics, sculpture, installation, performance, writing and spoken word will be used as means to re-visit themes of belonging and migration, re-evaluate the urban environment we live in, and to re-establish art & research practices as ways of living & coping. Fertile Soil will open its doors to visitors on November 23d and 24th at V.O. Studios Project Space. It is a residency exhibition preceding a public programme, No More (Cruel) Optimism (coming in February 2023 and supported using public funding by Arts Council England). @picassorose @esthermerinero @kuan.y.f @lindaze @mayagulieva @pietragalli @queenofneoprene @ruorumou