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School of Politics and International Relations

THE FUTURE OF PLANTS: BEYOND EARTH

When: Thursday, June 15, 2023, 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Where: QMUL Graduate Centre, Room 204 Mile End Road London E1 4NS, Mile End Campus

What does it mean that plants are growing in outer space? In this talk, geographer Franklin Ginn will consider the past, present and future of plants beyond Earth-bound ecologies. Artist Katy Connor will reflect on her work, HydroPoetics. Both speakers will review the role of plants in space by drawing on their experience of building a garden room within The Martian House, a simulated house for dwelling on Mars.

About the Speakers:

Dr Katy Connor is a visual artist and creative producer. Her interdisciplinary projects explore the rich relationships between embodiment and technologies. With fifteen years experience in developing experimental approaches, she makes work for different media platforms and exhibitions, in addition to devising participatory workshops and socially-engaged activities. Katy has presented her work at international conferences, screenings, and exhibitions: Transmediale Berlin, Lumen Prize New York, London and Hong Kong. She is currently based in Bristol, UK - where she has a studio at Spike Island. She is also a resident of the Pervasive Media Studio, Watershed.

Dr Franklin Ginn is a senior lecturer in cultural geography at the University of Bristol and Co-Editor of Environmental Humanities. He is the author of Domestic Wild: Memory, Nature, and Gardening in Suburbia (2016), and co-editor of The Work That Plants Do: Life, Labour and the Future of Vegetal Economies (2021).

This lecture is part of the Environmental Futures Lecture Series curated by Dr Giulia Carabelli and sponsored by the Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences at Queen Mary University of London.

Programme:

3:00pm: Roundtable Discussion

5:00pm: Reception

This is a hybrid event. All are welcome to join, but please register via Eventbrite. A link to join the talk remotely will be sent closer to the date.

[Photo Credit: Luke O’Donovan]

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