Opening weekend: Assembling Grounds

As part of the opening of »Assembling Grounds: Practices of Coexistence«, we will spend two days reflecting on what we can learn from each other about living together in times of comprehensive ecological and political change through lectures, performances, and artist talks.

What role do art and cultural knowledge, both global and local, play? How can we create connections despite our differences and divisions? To this end, we will address the questions, suggestions, and encounters that emerged during the ZKM exhibition, »Critical Zones. In Search of a Common Ground« through South Asia (2022–2024).

Additionally, Stéphane Verlet-Bottéro will continue his long-term project with a performative event on ZKM's Katzenwedelwiese. In dialogue with invited local and international artists, the meadow will be reactivated as a place of multiple knowledge systems, collective exchange, and sustainable art production.

Friday, July 25

16 Uhr, Media Theater
Keynote by Sria Chatterjee, Head of Research Initiatives, Paul Mellon Centre London
Introduction and moderation by Daria Mille

Recently, the question of how to represent the sentience of plants has aroused great interest among contemporary artists working in plant science. In this keynote Sria Chatterjee asks WHY artists are invested in making visible ideas of plant intelligence and consciousness. Where have some of these art and science collaborations led? Does making human audiences empathize with plants as agential beings work towards multispecies justice? Wondering about these ideas, the keynote serves as an impulse for the following panels and events of the opening days.

5:30 pm, Media Theater
Panel discussion with Jahnavi Phalkey, Ravi Agarwal, Bettina Korintenberg, Amruta Nemivant Moderated by Mira Hirtz

The panel discussion brings together actors who participated in the traveling exhibition »Critical Zones. In Search of a Common Ground« through India and Sri Lanka 2022-2024. We will use a brief review of the experiences and themes of this traveling exhibition to address current issues: What role can institutions and exhibitions play in making the world a place worth living in for humans and non-humans? What knowledge should be preserved for this purpose and what formats can be used to activate it?

7:30 pm, Foyer 
Exhibition Opening
Followed by a performance by Mallika Das Sutar.

Saturday, July 26

11 am, Medialounge
Panel discussion with artists from the exhibition

12 pm, Medialounge
Performance by Mallika Das Sutar, artist of the exhibition

12:30 pm, Medialounge
Panel discussion with artists from the exhibition

From 3 pm, Streuobstwiese
Events and performances