Going underground: Multispecies encounters with rocks and water in the shadow of extraction

Extract from call for participants November 2017:

Going Underground: Multispecies Encounters with Rocks and Water in the Shadow of Extraction

An Arts-Sciences Walkshop/Field trip

With extraction a hot-button issue for Australian publics, this arts-science walkshop and field trip aims to go underground: that is, to engage a transdisciplinary exploration of matters of concern related to “the vertical third dimension” – i.e. gas and mineral mining, subterranean ecologies, as well as the politics, economics and cultures of extraction and life underground. What relations are still to be forged between the rocks, waters and species (human and non-human) that all have different stakes in these questions? What kinds of knowledge-making and relational practices can enhance the perimeters of our research and our actions?

To explore these questions, we will embark on a collaborative journey to the heart of the coal mining history of New South Wales – the State Mine Heritage Park & Railway – in Lithgow. 15-20 participants will travel, read, listen, discuss, eat and make together, in the pursuit of new ways to think about our common (under)ground.