Dear Earth: Art and Hope in a Time of Crisis – Hayward Gallery

This week I had the great pleasure and honour of joining one of the other students of the UK Food Systems - Centre for Doctoral Training Cherry Truluck at the closing ceremony of the ‘Dear Earth’ exhibition Hayward Gallery . It was not only a welcome break from the fast-paced life of my Ph.D. but also allowed me to connect to my other passions performance and art.

The truth is, if Cherry had not invited us to this event it would have probably surpassed me amongst everything going on at the moment with my research project. Hard to believe especially given that I still work on the #Southbank and tend to follow the #LondonClimateAction Week which was also promoting this exhibition. That means I went without any expectations and not knowing much about the artists, performers and panellists which maybe adds to the excitement that creative performances can evoke.

I arrived early enough to explore the exhibition before Cherry’s culinary performance. I didn’t get to see all 14 artists' work which explored the themes of care, hope, interdependence, emotional and spiritual connection and activism. The curators aimed to help visitors to deepen their psychological and spiritual responses to the climate crisis, to inspire joy and empathy as well as encourage us to political and social activism.

Of course, our response to art is very personal and subjective but this might also be its power. To be able to act on the complex issues surrounding the climate crisis we need to be emotionally invested in solutions which most frequently require us to change our daily routines drastically. I think everyone has their own unique way of processing and entering the consciousness of environmentalism, so it isn’t surprising that the exhibition had drastically different exhibits. The entrance showed different pieces of Otobong Nkanga. What impressed me the most here were the many different methods she seemed to have mastered to create art and express herself. I loved the video installation of her performance it was so poetic and melodic and equally ceremonial. The sense of care was at the core of this and it felt like every nuance was considered: the music, the lighting, the chosen objects, the movements; what a symphony. In clear contrast in many ways was the tapestry ‘The Weight of the Stars’ that felt monumental in sheer size but also in its colour and composition. The pictures you can find online genuinely don’t do it justice. Some of the smaller watercolour paintings reminded me of Frida Kahlo. I am unsure if that is a coincidence or if the artist was inspired by her work and political activism.

I moved on from there to see the colourful world of the environmental activist Andrea Bowers and it felt as if the beauty and skill of her art stood in stark contrast to her political activism which I am confident isn’t as colourful and accurate as her skilful pieces, but I think that’s their appeal. Each piece was done with so much integrity and caution that even those who aren’t activists would be attracted and drawn in.

Both of these artists touched me deeply but we were called to the performance of Cherry Truluck which was my main purpose of the evening. This meant I did not get the chance to appreciate the pieces of the other artists whose work was very different thematically and artistically.

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Cherry’s performance challenged the guests on our linear concept of time. She proposed that time is not a linear entity and that following the growing rhythms of nature would help us reconnect with nature when farming and growing food. Cherry uses her own experience of growing rare selected grains of oats aligned with moon cycles. She applies traditional and ancient methods of harvesting and processing to care for the oats, the planet and the people consuming the oats. The milk of green oats was flavoured with foraged herbs and rose petals grown in close proximity to the oats and timely interwoven in terms of germination, sprouting, blossoming and harvesting. The flavour of the milk which was served under the Super Blue Moon to close and continue the cycle of the oats was nourishing, light and tasted of wildflowers and summer. Cherry’s reflections shared after the ritualistic preparations invited us to connect ancient wisdom with research and innovation leaving us reminiscing whether innovation is in fact more of a remembering of long-forgotten wisdom.

I also joined some of the panel talks and the performance of Love Ssega which albeit themed differently highlighted the interconnectedness of art, science, environmentalism, design, political and social activism and probably meant that everyone could take some inspiration and hope home.

There is so much gratitude left in me now for this brief intermezzo of the rush of my studies and the harsh realities of climate change which is one of my drivers to study and explore other ways of living.

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