SZINE #3:
Extractivism Everywhere: Experimenting and Reflecting on the Role of Cultural Institutions in Global Crises
Extractivism Everywhere: Experimenting and Reflecting on the Role of Cultural Institutions in Global Crises
Szine #3 – Extractivism Everywhere was originated from the public program Towards Post-Extractive Cultures which was hosted at the Stedelijk Museum in February 2023. Its various rituals, workshops and lectures made us reflect on the extractive practices that capitalist-driven industries employ to exploit resources and create global emergencies. However, we recognized that cultural organisations have also extracted visual aesthetics in the past which continue to be used in the present. Because of this, we invited some of the program’s co-organizers to discuss their experiences gathering collectives and artists which varied from Indigenous communities to diasporic collectives in Europe.
Towards Post-Extractive Cultures altar. Photo: Laura Ponchel.
Teresa Borasino, co-organiser of TPEC, artist-researcher and co-founder of Fossil Free Culture. During her performance Ausangate: a gaseous cosmology. Photo: Laura Ponchel.
In this publication, we start with an introduction of the economic and social evolution of extractivism and how a growing movement of post-extractivism has emerged in response. Afterwards, manager of education and inclusion Emma Harjadi Herman and design curator Amanda Pinatih are joined by four co-organizers of Towards Post-Extractive Cultures: Teresa Borasino, Vasna Ramasar, Aldo Esparza Ramos, and Gustavo García López to discuss their relationship with post-extractivism practices and their experiences in preparing and carrying out the program at the Stedelijk Museum. Finally, a year after this conversation, we asked the co-organizers to reflect on the lessons learned and to further uncover the inherent complexities and contradictions of post-extractivism when applied in practice.
Indigenous Knowledge Center led by Simyuru Tjaaroeme (Aweroekana Cultura) and Leander Vermaning (Wasjikwa). Aweroekana Cultura and Wasjikwa are two Surinamese Indigenous organisations committed to supporting the creation of the Indigenous Knowledge Center in the Netherlands. Photo: Laura Ponchel.
Indigenous Knowledge Center led by Simyuru Tjaaroeme (Aweroekana Cultura) and Leander Vermaning (Wasjikwa). Aweroekana Cultura and Wasjikwa are two Surinamese Indigenous organisations committed to supporting the creation of the Indigenous Knowledge Center in the Netherlands. Photo: Laura Ponchel.
In the end, the invitation to everyone continues to be the same: take part in imagining, creating, and enacting new ways of being together while we figure out the complexity of the moments that unfold around us. To read more about how you can take a first step to apply this framework, we invite you to download a free digital copy of the thirfs issue. As always, it is available in English and Dutch.