24 FEBRUARY / 2 PM – 4 PM / FREE, REGISTER
Spaces are limited. If you’re unable to attend, please return your ticket at Eventbrite
Join us for the book launch of What The Mine Gives, The Mine Takes with Ana Alenso, editor and artist, Lucía Pizzani, artist contributor to the book, and Raquel Villar-Pérez, curator at Impressions Gallery.
Like a mighty river that flows and deviates from its course, What The Mine Gives, The Mine Takes invites us on a journey to decipher the hidden predatory logic within the mechanisms of gold mining exploitation and the resulting socio-ecological devastation in the Guayana and Venezuela’s Amazon regions. More than a warning, this publication presents a collective and sensitive cartography of this mining conflict through a diversity of art projects, poems, essays, diagrams, satellite visions, and documentary images.
In this conversation between Ana Alenso, editor and artist, Lucía Pizzani, artist contributor to the book, Raquel Villar-Pérez, curator at Impressions Gallery, and the public, we will discuss the origins of the book, the work of Latin American artists and how do they engage with communities affected by extractivist practices in their countries, and how the singularity of Guayana and Venezuela informs global debates on extractivism and climate emergency.
Ana Alenso.Berlin-based Venezuelan artist Ana Alenso’s artistic practice delves into the intersections of socio-ecological consequences stemming from extractivism, global resource politics, and the trade of precious metals and fossil fuels. Her poetic, industrial, yet darkly dystopian works are often temporary and closed-circuit assemblages, consisting of sculptures, photographs, sound, and video. Recent exhibitions include the Geneva Biennale: Sculpture Garden in Switzerland, Street Fight at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland; Oil, Beauty, and Horror in the Petrol Age at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg; The Garden Bridge at Brücke Museum and El Museo de la democracia in NGBK, Berlin.
Lucía Pizzani. Born in Caracas and based in London, Pizzani’s practice involves the body and self always informed by materiality. Having worked as part of the environmental movement in Venezuela for many years, these concerns are still very present in her research and production. Recent exhibitions, residencies and commissions include Planet B Climate Change and the new sublime, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud at Palazzo Bolanni (Venice), Peckham24 (London), Casino Luxemburg (Luxemburg), TEA Museum (Tenerife), Casa Wabi and the Puerto Escondido Botanical Garden (Oaxaca, Mexico), LaunchPad Lab (Charente, France) and Hacienda La Trinidad Art Centre (Caracas).
Raquel Villar-Pérez. Raquel Villar-Pérez is the curator at Impressions Gallery in Bradford, where she is responsible for the exhibitions programme of the gallery, commissions, and public events. Broadly, she is interested in de- and anti- colonial discourses within contemporary visual art from the Global Majority. Her focus is on the work of women-identified image-makers who tackle notions of migration, transnational feminisms, social and environmental justice in original expansive ways.
Image: Marco Montiel Soto
We encourage you to use public transport or carpooling when getting to the events.
Open Eye Gallery is a short walk from the Liverpool ONE shopping centre and the Albert Dock.
By train. We are 20 minutes walk from Lime Street station. James Street station, served by Wirral Line trains, is a two minute walk. Moorfields station, served by the Northern and Wirral Lines, is a five minute walk. Visit Merseytravel for details of local train services.
By bus. The nearest bus and coach station is at Liverpool ONE, served by National Express coaches. Merseytravel has details of local bus services.
By ferry. The gallery is two minutes walk from the Pier Head Ferry Terminal, from which Mersey Ferries run regular services to the Wirral.
By bicycle. There are bicycle bays close to the gallery, opposite the entrance to the Museum of Liverpool, beside the Great Western Railway building.
If you wish to offset the carbon footprint of your travel, you can do it with Carbon Neutral Britain, Carbon Footprint, Forest Carbon, My Carbon Plan or any other project that you trust.
Address:
Open Eye Gallery,
Liverpool, L3 1BP
Open:
10am – 5pm, Tue – Sun