FIELDWORK: Cultural Histories, Rural Futures

A two-day symposium reflecting on agrarian knowledge, cultural memory, and the role of rural communities in shaping their own futures. Through talks, lectures, screenings and site visits, the programme engages with urgent questions around how land is used, who works it, and what happens when these relationships are disrupted.  It considers histories of farming, migration, and policy as they relate to rural life, while reflecting on our responsibility to recognise the agency, resilience and knowledge embedded in farming life.

The symposium runs in conjunction with the current exhibition by Asunción Molinos Gordo, The Peasant, the Scholar and the Engineer.

The speakers:

Asunción Molinos Gordo research-based artist working to generate a less urban-centric way of understanding progress
Anahi Alviso-Marino Biso scholar and researcher whose work focuses on cultural production across cities of the Arabian peninsula throuhg publication, films, exhibitions, and game-type protocols in public programmes
Nezar Andary filmmaker, writer, and curator who has been Artistic Director of the Al Sidr Environmental Film Festival and the artistic director of the Performing Books Season with the House of Wisdom
Rami Zurayk scholar activist specialising in ecosystem management and food systems. He co-founded the Arab Food Sovereignty Network
Rafael SM Paniagua works, teaches, researches, and creates at the intersection of aesthetics, the arts, and philosophy, focusing on the social dimension of art and minor cultures
Andrea Pacheco Chilean curator and independent researcher based in Madrid, whose work explores contemporary debates on memory, migration, diaspora, and transnational identities

The symposium runs 3 to 7pm on Saturday, 11am to 6pm on Sunday. It’s free, but pre-registration is requested via this link.