This lecture is a RECORDING ONLY - after purchasing your Pay What You Can ticket you will be able to access the link to the recording of this class via the ticket page. Please reach out to hello@feministlectureprogram.com if you run into any issues.
After purchasing, you will have until Monday 4th May to watch this recording.
We hope you enjoy the class!
CLASS DESCRIPTION
This class will focus on the conceptualisation of nature as female and the way in which this has translated to an association of women with nature. We will look at the way in which both entities were depicted side by side in seminal artworks from the 15th to 19th century, such as The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli and The Witches by Hans Baldung Grien. By using the historicity and meaning of each artwork we will build on our understanding of the social construct of both women and nature in an attempt to answer the question: what were the social constructs that allowed this association to become, to be sustained, and ultimately to change?
Within these questions we will discuss the movement of nature as a source of worship, respect, and life into one of exploitation. Silvia Federicci and Carolyn Merchant will contribute the bulk of the historical context via their books Caliban and the Witch and The Death of Nature, respectively. Their writings offer an analysis of the association of women with nature while also demonstrating their transitory quality in which definitions and values adhered to both have shifted over the course of time. We will look at how developments such as large scale mining and the industrial revolution pushed towards this dramatic change in social mindset when regarding the relationship between women and nature. This movement, from one view to another, will also be elaborated on via the concept of environmentalities: the idea that nature is conceived in different ways across cultures and the complex interplay and web of power between humans and non humans that is constantly at play.
A central point in this overall discussion is anthropologist Sherry Ortner’s paper Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture? which looks at the nature-culture-gender thesis, outlining that women and nature are naturally exploited by men and culture, and the reasons she gives for such a universal statement.
Ultimately, we will look at how women today perceive themselves alongside nature, as it is understood in our individual societies; by viewing contemporary artworks and those made by womxn artists specifically, including those created during my research. We will discuss how womxn from different areas of the LGBTQIA+ community have viewed this idea and question, and how the concept has transformed over the years. This will, I hope and most interestingly, open the floor to debate on how other women (and perhaps men) align themselves with nature, and if this is a detriment or a benefit and why .
ABOUT OUR LECTURER
Nina Paiva is a Camberwell college of arts and Goldsmiths graduate: at heart an anthropologist with a creative root. Currently curating for the female led gallery The Artist Workspace and working with fellow Camberwell alumni to develop technical and research based workshops, her goal is to make art and education accessible and conversational.
Her experience spans both artistic and academic fields having exhibited her own artwork in both the UK and Brazil, run and participated in performance art workshops, and worked with the Multimedia Anthropology Lab (UCL) to research and preserve the material knowledge of Brazilian indigenous groups.
Nina recently worked with 12 women artists across 6 countries to discuss the universality of the nature-culture-gender thesis. Her personal anthropological research is currently focused on the many depictions of cultural gender binaries through art.
INSTAGRAM: @ninapaivaa
__
FAQs
ACCESSING THE LIVE LINK
If you booked to join us live, you’ll be able to find the link to the Zoom webinar via your ticket on the ticketing platform. We do not email out the live link - this means we do not risk the email bouncing and not reaching our students!
DONATE TO FLP
Love what you’re seeing? Help The Feminist Lecture Program to keep our Pay What You Can ticket model, and to continue scheduling an incredible line-up of lectures by donating a little extra.
You can send us a ‘tip’ via our PayPal link here: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/my/profile
RECORDING
A recording of the lecture will be sent out by The Feminist Lecture Program after the event finishes, within 2 hours of the end of the class. This email will also contain any resources/reading list the lecturer shares.
Please add hello@feministlectureprogram.com to your email contacts to ensure you receive the recording as expected.
Please note that the recording will expire 7 days after sending.
PAY WHAT YOU CAN
Everyone is welcome to join this Pay-What-You-Can class. We suggest a donation of £20, however, we understand that may not be possible for everybody. Please be honest and pay what you can afford so that we can continue to offer our sessions on a donation basis.
MORE FLP…
Can’t get enough? The Feminist Lecture Program has our very own digital archive, where you can find some of the best past lectures from our back catalogue to rent and watch ON DEMAND. Check out our ever growing collection here: https://thefeministlectureprogram.vhx.tv/
Follow us on Instagram @thefeministlectureprogram
And check out our sustainable merch from FLP Studio at https://feministlectureprogram.com/shop & @flp__studio
And that's it!
We're really looking forward to you joining us x