Imagining the Forest - Cross-Cultural Conversations
We are delighted to announce that Richmond Arts and Ideas Festival has been granted British Council funding. The International Collaboration Grant has been awarded to the festival to develop a new programme, Imagining the Forest - Cross-Cultural Conversations.
This programme is a collaboration between Richmond (London), Karachi (Pakistan) and The Guarani YVYRUPA Commission (Sao Paulo, Brazil). Each will commission artists and work with indigenous communities to address their ecological crises. This participatory project will engage artists and communities to spark discussions on themes such as river ecology, treescapes and indigenous knowledge. Artists Rafael Vilela, an ally of The Guarani YVYRUPA Commission (São Paulo), Nadeem Al Karimi (Karachi), and Eelyn Lee (London) will create new works, supported by ‘Long Table’ events for public debate, with resulting artworks showcased at the Richmond Arts and Ideas Festival 2025, São Paulo Biennale and Karachi Biennale.
Forest Ruins by Rafael Vilela
Imagining the Forest – Cross-Cultural Conversations contributes to Richmond’s thematic focus of ‘Cultural Reforesting’ working with artists and communities to better understand our ecological impact. The ‘Long Table’ events, resulting artworks and this new partnership between Richmond, Karachi and São Paulo, is an urgent and necessary project that will deepen knowledge and activism on the ecological crisis.
The first ‘Long Table’ event was launched on Tuesday 29 October and hosted by Karachi Biennale 2024. Karachi, Richmond (London) and São Paulo came together over a hybrid event to share knowledge, stories and art practice connected to three major rivers - the Tiete in Brazil, the Indus in Pakistan and the Thames in the UK. Instigated by the Karachi Biennale 2024 theme of food security under the title RIZQ/RISK, artists, scientists and experts came together, online, in person at Karachi Biennale or Richmond and Hillcroft Community College, to discuss water, and its connection to the complexities of food production and distribution. The result was a powerful, lively, eye-opening discussion into the ecological crisis and the impact across all three communities. The first of many events to take place between now and January 2025, it was a compelling start to the programme.
Creature of The Estuary by Eelyn Lee
The International Collaboration Grant makes this project possible; it has been designed to support artists to make and develop creative artwork, and to encourage new international partnerships and innovative ways of collaborating. We are excited to see the new artworks that Vilela, Lee and Al Karimi will develop, the powerful stories and discussions that will be activated a the ‘Long Table’ events and the conversations you will spark at Richmond Arts and Ideas Festival 2025.