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PROGRAM STARTS AT 13.00AND ENDS AT 16.30 (INCLUDING BREAKS)
13.00 – 15.40
INTRODUCTION
Introduction by Fotogalleriet's Artistic Director Antonio Cataldo and the European Kunsthalle Artistic co-Director Rike Frank.
OPENING PRESENTATION
Opening presentation by curator Kathryn Weir on the political ecology dimension of her curatorial practice departing from the projects: ‘Cosmopolis #2: Rethinking the Human’ at the Centre Pompidou in Paris (2019), where Munem Wasif’s ‘Seeds Shall Set Us Free II’ was first presented, ‘Rethinking Nature at Madre Museum in Naples’ (2021) and ‘Green Snake’ at Tai Kwun Contemporary in Hong Kong (2024).
Kathryn Weir’s curatorial and writing practice engages with critical thinking on technology, class, race, gender and political ecology. She is the Co-Artistic Director, Lagos Biennial 2021-2024, and teaches Curatorial Studies at Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, Rome.
CONTRIBUTING NOTES
Researcher Pierre du Plessis will look into plant and fungi movement, forging tracks for humans, animals, and more-than-human organisms departing from the encounter of the Kalahari Desert Truffle and contemporary practices of gathering these organisms. Du Plessis will look at it from a feminist conceptual reading of the gatherer through the lenses of The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction by Ursula Le Guin.
Adam Kleinman, Director at Kunsthall Trondheim, curator and writer, will talk on the figure of the German Nobel Prize winning chemist Fritz Haber (1868-1934), and how the same technology that feeds can also K*ll. This in reference to the history of modern fertilisers and the gradual infiltration of toxic, nitrogen-derived products in the crops, in the land, in our bodies, and the our water.
Pierre du Plessis is a Researcher at the Oslo School of Environmental Humanities, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo. He is an environmental anthropologist and multispecies ethnographer whose research has focused on the skilled practices of tracking and gathering as methods and analytics to describe more-than-human landscapes.
Director of Kunsthall Trondheim, Adam Kleinman is dedicated to curating exhibitions, programs, and events that inspire trust and mutual understanding through the presentation of art reflecting the daily realities and lived experiences of both individuals and communities. His aim is to cultivate diverse avenues of access and enhance the joy of everyday life by bringing people together to share relevant ideas articulated with power. Currently, as the Director of Kunsthall Trondheim, he continues his mission to foster meaningful engagement with the arts.
FILM SCREENING: REETU SATTAR
Shabnam (2023) by Reetu Sattar, explores the historic and continuing relationship between East Lancashire and Bangladesh in a textile tug-of-war. The film revolves around the delicate muslin produced in Dhaka in the 17th and 18th centuries, highly prized by the British fashion market. It involves the migration of textile workers to Lancashire in the 20th century and back to present-day garment workers in the same city in Bangladesh.
AN ADRESS BY MUNEM WASIF "Seeds Shall Set Us Free"
Munem Wasif will adress his practice and its relation to the research-based organization UBINIG, founded by a group of activists in 1984 to support the new agricultural movement, Naya Krishi Andolan
Munem Wasif's image-based works explore the notion and forms of trace. His complex installations often mix photographs with moving images, archive documents or collected paraphernalia to reveal notions of impermanence and insecurity.
Q&A
Munem Wasif, Adam Kleinmann, Kathryn Weir and Pierre Louis du Plessis, moderated by Fotogalleriet's Curatorial Fellow 2024-25 Lara Okafor.
16.00 - 16.30
PERFORMANCE "Undersang" BY HARALD BEHARIE
The day will end with the performance Undersang (work in-progess) by dancer and choreographer Harald Beharie.
Undersang is a work that takes the form of a performance ritual in the forest (Lillomarka), the production is a collaboration with Black Box Teater and Dansens Hus, Oslo May 30 - June 2.
Harald Beharie (he/they) is a Norwegian-Jamaican performer and choreographer based in Oslo, Norway. Harald's choreographic practice navigates through a sphere of ambiguity and imagination, characterized by themes such as construction and deconstruction, hope, uncertainty, indifference and intensity.
ABOUT THE PUBLIC PROGRAM
“Wild Seeds: the unplanted and the uncultivated, a series of gatherings challenging agrarian assumptions” brings together practitioners from different fields in Oslo over different days and weeks to explore the potential of changing our relation to food and seeds and find new ways and relations between humans and more-than-human beings.
The programs depart from "Seeds Shall Set Us Free", a solo exhibition by Munem Wasif. The exhibition and its related events have received funding from Arts Council Norway and The Gwaertler Grant.
ABOUT THE CURATORS
Rike Frank works as a curator and writer and teaches exhibition histories and curatorial practice. She is Executive Director of the Berlin Artistic Research Grant Programme, as well as co-director of the European Kunsthalle.
Antonio Cataldo, PhD, is a curator, a scholar, and, since August 2018, the Artistic Director of Fotogalleriet in Oslo. He currently also chairs the Association of Norwegian Kunsthalles.
Miki Gebrelul is a Curator and Head of Exhibitions at Fotogalleriet. Gebrelul is a recent graduate with MA in Gender Studies and Philosophy from University of Oslo, focusing on queer individuals and groups with minority ethnic backgrounds.
Foto: Courtesy of Munem Wasif and Project 88.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Kunstnernes Hus, Wergelandsveien 17, 0167 Oslo, Norge,Oslo, Norway