Indigenous Art and Sovereignty Inspiring Change against Environmental Degradation

Géraldine Le Roux,Estelle Castro-Koshy

doi:10.25120/etropic.19.1.2020.3737

Abstract

This special issue on “Environmental Artistic Practices and Indigeneity: In(ter)ventions, Recycling, Sovereignty" constitutes a body of creative contributions and academic articles addressing numerous forms of artistic practices of the Pacific Islands, Australia, French Guiana, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia. Inspired by Indigenous artists and writers whose practices and creativity help reimagine sustainable ways to inhabit the world, this introduction and our special issue interrogate contemporary environmental issues and the legacy of colonisation. They examine how Indigenous artists and writers, and artists working with Indigenous artists and communities, have for decades raised awareness about environmental issues, and encouraged people to regain their agency to struggle against environmental degradation and further destruction of Indigenous people’s societies and health. This introduction contextualises the concepts and Indigenous terms used by artists to express their vision of what a respectful relationship with the environment would be. It also offers readings of the beautiful literary and artistic creative contributions included in this issue. Environmental themes such as waste recycling, health issues, pollutants (mercury, POPs), and agricultural technics are discussed here in light of human and non-human life and agency. This issue also features a significant range of calls for action to better protect and restore ecosystems.

Highlights

This special issue on “Environmental Artistic Practices and Indigeneity: In(ter)ventions, Recycling, Sovereignty" constitutes a body of creative contributions and academic articles addressing numerous forms of artistic practices of the Pacific Islands, Australia, French Guiana, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia
A nalysing creative practices by Indigenous artists, or artists working closely with Indigenous communities, this pluridisciplinary issue aims to determine how Indigenous societies perceive and interact with pollution and toxic substances that affect their environment and territories. We initiated this special issue to examine how conceptions of waste and its recycling enlightens discourses on Indigenous sovereignty, and in turn, explore how the notion of sovereignty – as understood, lived, and defined by Indigenous peoples – informs and influences artistic practices that respond to contemporary environmental challenges
We aim to substantially focus on how Indigenous people relate to rivers, the seas, the oceans, and the coastline

Summary

Introduction

This special issue on “Environmental Artistic Practices and Indigeneity: In(ter)ventions, Recycling, Sovereignty" constitutes a body of creative contributions and academic articles addressing numerous forms of artistic practices of the Pacific Islands, Australia, French Guiana, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia. A nalysing creative practices by Indigenous artists, or artists working closely with Indigenous communities, this pluridisciplinary issue aims to determine how Indigenous societies perceive and interact with pollution and toxic substances that affect their environment and territories We initiated this special issue to examine how conceptions of waste and its recycling enlightens discourses on Indigenous sovereignty, and in turn, explore how the notion of sovereignty – as understood, lived, and defined by Indigenous peoples – informs and influences artistic practices that respond to contemporary environmental challenges. Géraldine Le Roux is an anthropologist, art historian, and art curator, who has worked with Indigenous Australian and Pacific artists for over 15 years and has published on the recycling of ghost nets by Indigenous artists from the tropical north of Australia This issue is an integral part of a multi-form project seeking to articulate reflections about pollution, recycling, art, and Indigenous sovereignty. In early 2020, Géraldine Le Roux embarked on a 17 day sailing journey across the Pacific, starting from Rapa Nui and ending in French Polynesia, as a crew member of eXXpedition, a company pioneering all-female sailing research expeditions to investigate the causes of, and solutions to, ocean plastic pollution. One of the final aspects of this project will be an international conference co-organised by Estelle Castro-Koshy and Géraldine Le Roux, with Associate Professor Jean-Marc Serme at the University of Bretagne Occidentale, France, in 2021.3

Objectives

Findings

Conclusion