In a world with 75% of the planet’s land surface experiencing measurable human pressure, the way people imagine their social whole substantially impacts the planetary environment itself. However, tools used for portraying the Earth’s environment are neither neutral nor societally inclusive.

To overcome that, transdisciplinary artworks and methods showcased by More-than-Planet exhibition (until 23 December 2022) and symposium (11 July 2022) at Old Observatory Leiden aim to open a discussion on how technologies and drivers behind their development matter at reducing pressure on the environment. 

Register here for the symposium

Artist Dani Ploeger at the More-than-Planet expo opening, 1st July 2022. Credits: Old Observatory / Pim Rusch Photography

Art-driven collaboration

The symposium will showcase some of the iconic transdisciplinary works of art, discuss art-driven collaborations as developed through number of S+T+ARTS projects addressing the shared understanding of socio-environmental troubles, and discuss the necessary next steps. For this symposium, we’ve teamed up with Old Observatory Leiden.

How are these iconic works produced and made? What is their point of departure? How do transdisciplinary projects function? And how can space and earth researchers collaborate with artists? More on a meta-level: how do art works contribute to how space policy is done? The aim is to work towards inclusive environmental observations and to highlight invisible stories. 

Symposium Programme

9:00 – 9:15 hrs. Opening Remarks

9:15 – 10:45 hrs. Session 1: Reimagining the Planet
Artists and creatives play a vital role in reinventing how people engage, observe, and think about their socio-environmental world. Several remarkable projects will demonstrate how artistic innovation and concerned perspectives contribute to what is more than a planet as it appears at first sight. 
Speakers:
Omar Ferwati (Forensic Architecture)
John Palmesino & Ann-Sofi Rönnskog (Territorial Agency)

11:00 – 13:00 hrs. Session 2: Art-driven transdisciplinary research and innovation
Several European efforts have developed methods of collaboration between artists, researchers, technology providers, industry, and local stakeholders, as well as more non-human environmental actors, in recent years. This session will provide some insights and an opportunity to discuss them.
Panel:
Christophe de Jaeger (Gluon for STARTS4Water)
Rodolfo Groenewoud van Vliet (Info4Art for Better Factory)
Karen O’Flaherty (EJR-Quartz for ESA)
Claudia Schnugg (Residencies at ESA/ESTEC)
Frans Snik & Ana Maria Gomez Lopes (Leiden University)
Marko Peljhan (UCSB/Projekt Atol/C-ASTRAL)

13:00 – 14:00 hrs. Lunch

14:00 – 16:00 hrs. Session 3: What’s next?
The ambition of a three year More-than-Planet project is to develop a pathway toward a framework that will establish a shared ground for transdisciplinary cooperation between artists, space researchers, and innovators.
Panel: 
Annick Bureaud (Leonardo/OLATS)
Anna Sitnikova & Elizaveta Glukhova (Moon Gallery)
Pedro Russo (Leiden University)
Lukáš Likavčan (NYU Shanghai)

16:00 – 18:00 hrs. More-than-Planet exhibition guided tours & drinks

The More-than-Planet exhibition

This Symposium highlights works from the More-than-Planet exhibition at the Old Observatory Leiden. The symposium is an offline event. You can visit the exhibition from 1 July until 23 December 2022. 

The More-than-Planet exhibition at Old Observatory Leiden. Credits: Old Observatory / Pim Rusch Photography