Views From Above, 2019

project collaboration Non Linear Narrative

Views From Above – Networks, Colonial Vision and Indigenous Resistance in the Brazilian Amazon is a research and exhibition project collaboration between the Non Linear Narrative master programme of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, and Greenpeace Netherlands. Together with Greenpeace, the students investigated the impact of deforestation on climate change and gained insights into the variety and interconnectedness of environmental problems.

To examine the interdependence of factors contributing to deforestation, students reviewed its causes and their effects on the world climate. Areas of interest included the representation and commodification of nature, agricultural and industrial exploitation, illegal mining, government corruption and biodiversity loss. Next to the ecological rationale, students also learned to consider ethnic and socio-political circumstances like indigenous land rights and disputes, and violence against the Indigenous people of Brazil. The final works were shown at multiple public events, a two week long exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague in February 2019 and the Mag Het Licht Aan Festival in July 2019, on invitation of Hivos at Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, Amsterdam.

The exhibition was accompanied by a publication, check out the digital version here.

concept in collaboration with Lauren Alexander and Martin Lloyd; student participants: Cyan Bae, Jean-Baptiste Castel, Giulia Faccin, Astrid Feringa, Cristina Lavosi, Felix Meermann, Claude Nassar, Lila Steinkampf, Mauro Tosarelli, Emma Verhoeven, Kert Viiart and Hattie Wade; project supervision in collaboration with Lauren Alexander, Mijke van der Drift, Lizzie Malcolm and Dan Powers; exhibition design: Nanneke Boomgaard, Bianca Meilof and Judy Wetters

Views From Above kickoff presentation by Martin Lloyd, Greenpeace Netherlands. – Photos by Boel Backaert Greenpeace collaborator Christine Gebeneter introducing the topic. Giulia Faccin, Panorama, video projection. Exhibition opening at KABK academy gallery on 8 February 2019. Exhibition overview. Emma Verhoeven, Guardians, video and printed posters. Exhibition overview. Hattie Wade, Nature as Capital, video and wood installation. Felix Meermann, Spix’s Macaw, video. Exhibition overview. Cristina Lavosi, 3.678 Households, textile tapestry. Cyan Bae, The Labour Named Deforestation, interactive archive.