In the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, as a necessary precaution and commitment to the wellbeing of artists, our staff, volunteers and the wider community all of our public facing events were paused. In this moment we have been working with commissioned artists to rethink and reimagine how their contribution to the Lincoln Live Season can be revised and reimagined; how new work can be shared and enjoyed together with audiences in a virtual, domestic and necessarily personal environment.
Celsius is delivered by independent curator and researcher Linda Rocco as part of a wider programme marking 200 years since Antarctica was first sighted. The programme forms part of Mansions of the Future’s Lincoln Live season and Antarctica In Sight – a UK wide cultural programme of activity supported by the UK Antarctica Heritage Trust. This series of talks, discussions and performance will explore the groundbreaking intersections of arts and STEM subjects with a focus on climate change and the uniquely precarious position of Antarctica in today’s sociopolitical climate. The week long programme will feature contributions from artists Rhine Bernardino, Lula Mebrahtu, Aidan Moesby and Josefina Nelimarkka.
Celsius Online Symposium
Monday 28 September, 4.00 – 5.30pm
The first event in the Celsius programme is a symposium centered on humanity’s agency in preserving the planet, Antarctica’s role in the earth’s climate system and the value of scientific and artistic collaborative research to unlock understandings of contemporary global challenges. With a full list of presentations from Ken Arnold (Creative Director, Wellcome Collection); Prem Gill (British Antarctic Survey & WWF); Camilla Nichol (Chief Exec UK Antarctic Heritage Trust); Lucy Orta (artist duo, founder of ‘the Antarctica World Passport’).
Research at the intersections of art and science, a conversation with artist Josefina Nelimarkka
Tuesday 29 September, launching 12 noon
A conversation between artist Josefina Nelimarkka and curator Linda Rocco on research practices at the intersection of art and science. Edited with past documentation and fragments from interactive works, the conversation will touch on issues of climate awareness, value systems in scientific advancement and the power of art to make the invisible, visible.
Rhine Bernardino: On Board, on Zoom
Wednesday 30 September, launching 12 noon
On Board, on Zoom is the outcome of a focused discussion session led earlier this month by Rhine Bernardino, with Lincoln-based artists exploring possible contributions and expectations in a floating society, a life surrounded by waters. Similar to the trajectory in the desire to further explore and learn about Antarctica, On Board, on Zoom serves as an expedition to navigate the unforgiving terrain of our planet’s uncertain future.
Aidan Moesby in conversation with Prof Thomas Dixon: I was naked, smelling of rain
Thursday 1 October 2020, 6.30 – 8.00pm
How does the weather affect your emotions? How might this change with the influence of climate change? A conversation with artist Aidan Moesby and Professor Thomas Dixon, followed by the screening of a BSL interpreted version of I was naked, smelling of rain – a performance piece exploring the impact of the external physical and social weather on our internal mental health and wellbeing. In the midst of the climate change and mental health crises, Aidan proposes that we’re the most connected ‘on-demand’ generation, yet we seem to have lost touch with who we are and where we fit in the world. This event will be BSL interpreted.
Nourishment in extreme places: eating habits in Antarctica
Friday 2 October, launching 12 noon
Produced by the Polar Museum and the Scott Polar Research Institute, Eating in Antartica discusses exactly that, with an explorer from the British Antarctic Survey and a conservationist from the Polar Museum. This will be shared alongside EDEN ISS, a 4-year project under the European Union‘s Research and Innovation Action program Horizon 2020, within the topic of ‘Space exploration / Life support.’ Each day updated images from 34 cameras make it possible to see plants growing in Antarctica.
Lula Mebrahtu (Lula.xyz): I’m Migrant
Saturday 3 October, 4.00 – 5.00pm
Tales of an ancestral voyage told through spoken word, music and cutting edge technology. Prepare to go on an AfroFuturistic journey, passing through Antarctica to an unknown destination.
Linda Rocco is a London-based contemporary art curator and PhD researcher at the Royal College of Art. She has curated public events and exhibitions internationally with established small-scale institutions as Delfina Foundation, to warehouse spaces such as Yinka Shonibare’s Studio Guest Projects including the curation of the public sphere for Nine Elms on the South Bank. Linda is the co-founder and director of ‘I’m Here, Where Are You?’ a festival and engagement programme co-produced with Cambridge Junction.
She also co-directs the not-for-profit organisation _inventory platform, which operates globally to engage communities in the urban and rural context through socially engaged art projects.
Linda regularly works as curator for artists and private galleries, as well as consulting for charities, foundations and public institutions on accessible, inclusive and socially engaged arts; collaboration with STEM subjects as well as participatory and intermedia practices.
This project is part of Mansions of the Future’s Lincoln Live programme March – September 2020 (Season extended in response to COVID-19). Departing from Lincoln’s rich entertainment and theatre history, Lincoln Live features new commissions which exist at the intersections of disciplinary boundaries. The season is a celebration of performative ventures that stand resolutely marginal to both the history of English theatre and the often exclusive, disciplinary rhetoric of contemporary performance art.