The Assembly was organised by The Deep Field Project in partnership with Arts Catalyst, non-profit contemporary arts organisation that commissions and produces transdisciplinary art and research. The event brought together artists, academics, activists and human rights experts to collectively explore the politics of extraction across the globe and the role that its operations play on environmental, ecopolitical and societal levels.
The attendees collectively explored the molecular effects of mining and its extractive practices on a planetary scale, including, for example, the complex interdependencies between the demand for forms of renewable energy that require the extraction of scarce resources and the disruptions of ecosystems and communities. One of the aims of the workshop is to reflect on how to build alliances and solidarity between artists, activists and those affected by mining industries.
The event featured presentations and papers from Ignacio Acosta, Lise Autogena, Bobby Banerjee, Suzanne Dhaliwal, FRAUD, Gaia Foundation, Que Kenny, London Mining Network, Margarida Mendes, Ainhoa Montoya, Rachel O’Reilly, Pluriversal Radio, Louise Purbrick, Xavier Ribas, Sim Chi Yin, Elena Solis and Jol Thomson and Neal White.
The Assembly is part of Resistance Labs, a series of discursive events, workshops and broadcasts organised by Arts Catalyst that bring to the forefront existing forms of solidarity between various anti-mining movements in the context of Ignacio Acosta’s exhibition ‘Tales from the Crust’ at Arts Catalyst in Kings Cross.