About this Event
The Future of Here exhibition at the Peale Museum is an invitation to reimagine our place along the Jones Falls River and the Chesapeake Bay in a distant future beyond our fossil-fueled present: what local landscapes and cultures might look like in a time far beyond the Baltimore we know now, what artifacts people of that future time might produce, and how they might make creative use of the many things we leave behind. The exhibition features work made by a collective of makers at Johns Hopkins University in the fall of 2024, anchored in a class co-taught by visual artist Jordan Tierney and environmental anthropologist Anand Pandian. Please join us in a panel discussion with participants in this collective journey, as we reflect together on transforming a university class into a public exhibition, one that unites, in particular, two fields of practice: art and anthropology.
Each week last fall, we surrendered ourselves to the landscapes of our urban watershed, and our imaginations of what this place could one day become. We made our way through railway underpasses and neglected streambeds, turning our senses from the commotion of city streets to the vibrant yet unseen riverscape. We went looking for waste materials as unknown treasures, gathering them up as the foundation of our collective art studio. We imagined what these human things could one day become when our own civilization has faded away, crafting new objects and imagining the stories and significance they might carry one day. Priming our brains with poetry and ethnobotany, historical maps and speculative fictions, we tuned into the rhythms of the city’s hidden environments and the creatures who live there. We invented a new culture for the distant future and the roles its people might have, imagining how they might live with this environment and the relics of our own time. Join us for a discussion of the collective process that yielded this unique exhibition, hearing from both instructors and students involved in the process, as well as those whose support made this endeavor possible.
Amienne Spencer-Blume is a second-year sociology PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins University. Using archival and ethnographic methods, she studies the social history of US state capitol architecture as well as state policymaking processes. She’s German American, practices Aikido and loves riding her bike.
Anand Pandian teaches anthropology at Johns Hopkins University. He is a curator of the Ecological Design Collective, and one of the organizers of “The Future of Here.” He is working on a new book project on decay, waste, and the crafting of ecological futures.
Arnab Chatterjee is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and an avid follower of robotics, design and art. His research combines robotics, design and bio-photonics across various disciplines. On his days off you will hear his motorcycle roaring from a distance. His hobbies include hiking, marksmanship, racing, and concept art.
Erin Rowe is the Vice Dean for Undergraduate Education in the Krieger School for Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University and Professor in the Department of History. Her research explores the religious culture of the early modern Iberian world, with particular emphasis on theology, race, gender, and visual culture. As Vice Dean for Undergraduate Education, she is responsible for maintaining and enhancing the quality of undergraduate education in the Krieger School.
Jordan Tierney‘s artistic practice involves a daily pilgrimage to the urban streams and forests buffers of Baltimore, surrendering to whatever the Jones Falls watershed decides to teach her. Her sculptures of repurposed found trash encourage us to imagine new stories for our future and remind us of the sacred relationship we have with this living, breathing planet we call our home.
Lindi Shepard is a PhD student in Advanced Studies in Education at Johns Hopkins University where she explores how people learn in and about the natural world. She conducts research at the Social Psychology in Education and the Environment Lab and is an active member of JHU’s Sustainability Leadership Council. She is especially passionate about creating opportunities for educators and students to engage with socio-ecological challenges and develop deep relationships with their human and more-than-human communities.
Skye Neulight is an undergraduate senior from California doing an interdisciplinary study in Environmental Humanities at Johns Hopkins University with particular interests in climate communication, queer and feminist ecologies, and environmental organizing. Skye in passionate about leveraging media to build climate consciousness and inspire people to collective action.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
225 Holliday St, 225 Holliday Street, Baltimore, United States
USD 0.00
