Blog | Angela YT Chan

2019

Interview with Xia Jia Writing Published in Dream Babes 2.0 edited by Sin Wai Kin with a Launch Event at the Horse Hospital

I interviewed Chinese science fiction scholar and author, Xia Jia, for the SF zine Dream Babes 2.0 edited by Sin Wai Kin. In the piece, we explore narrative forms and her term 'porridge SF' that resists narrow and gendered categorisations like ‘soft SF/fantasy’ and ‘hard SF'. We also discuss to positionality of this wave of Chinese science and speculative fiction, especially by women and non-binary authors, in the context of de-canonising the western, patriarchal criteria for sf.

August 20, 2019

writing / publication science fiction
The Moon Goddess 嫦娥 (Chang’e) in Mythology, Sci-fi and Lunar Exploration Talk for the Moon Festival at University of Greenwich

I delivered a talk about The Moon Goddess 嫦娥 (Chang’e), and her space travels through mythology, science fiction and today's lunar exploration programmes. The Chinese Moon Goddess, 嫦娥 (Chang’e), has long-inhabited the Moon and frequents the Earth on various journeys carried by mythologies, science fiction and lunar exploration. At a time when the aspirations of space science compromises Earth’s most vulnerable groups, this talk will ask 'How can we can refocus our lunar stories, inspired by 嫦娥, to move towards a global climate justice'? Margaret Atwood's keynote then followed, to complete the evening programme Maverick Women & the Moon, curated by Irenosen Okojie.

July 20, 2019

talk conference / symposium science fiction
Edgeland Talk for MA Print at Royal College of Art, London

As part of a series of talks on the theme of precarity organised by and for MA Print students at Royal College of Art, I joined artist Laura Grace Ford and Alice O'Rourke of Grand Union Gallery for a panel talk. Together we discussed the working environment for artists in the UK, and what the students can expect to navigate to minimise precarity in their work, such as finding supportive peer groups and collaborating across disciplines.

July 13, 2019

talk
Climate Science Research and Performance for Infintity Minus Infinity by The Otolith Group

I was invited by the Otolith Group to provide climate science research to inform part of the narrative for their film Infintity Minus Infinity (2019) and to perform with moss, green screen nails and the natural environment (after my project 'mossy soft spot'). 'Infinity minus Infinity, brings together dance, performance, music, recital and digital animation to compose a transhistorical zone in which the unpayable debts of racial capitalism cannot be separated from the ongoing crimes of capitalogenic climate catastrophe. The work enacts the durational timelines of past distress, present duress and future dread through the assembly of a chorus of transtemporal deities whose utterances, expressions, gestures and movements personify the compounded, accumulated, irreparable times and spaces of the hostile environment.' (July 13, 2019 → September 20, 2019)

July 13, 2019

working with research collaboration performance
Active Online Talk with mother tongues at the Barbican

I joined Izzy Kroese and The Bonita Chola to present our online curatorial, archival and editorial projects. We discussed multilingualism, digital languages and identity, as well as digital loudness in relation to activism, drawing from our own experiences of working online. We talked about online visibility and fostering safe spaces for communities advocating for POCLGBTQI+ climate justice, trans visibility and intersectional feminism. Our panel discussion was led by mother tongues, which was an interdisciplinary and research-led collective applying decolonial, feminist and queer theory in exploring language and identity.

July 9, 2019

talk
Speculative Fiction Reading Session for Ghost Camp 3 with Mycological Twist and Chaos Magic

I led a speculative fiction reading session on the first day of Ghost Camp 3, hosted by Anne De Boer + Eloise Bonneviot (The Mycological Twist) + Chaos Magic in Sherwood Forest near Nottingham, the mythical home of Robin Hood. 'Ghost Camps are communal camping moments where participants are invited to reimagine the traditional mythologies around the Left through workshops, readings and screenings.'

July 3, 2019

workshop residency science fiction
Art: A Catalyst for Radical Change Talk for A Civic Role for Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation's Arts Organisations - Relevance, Risks, Rewards Conference at the Arnolfini in Bristol

As part of one of five one-day gatherings (Manchester, Gateshead, London, Birmingham) I gave a talk at the Bristol event to discuss the civic role of art for radical change with members of arts organisations and institutions. I spoke about the need for institutions to support environmental and climate justice, particularly in line with supporting precarious art workers and understanding the racial injustice in the UK arts' for these areas. In the open discussion, I pointed out the lack of diversity in the space that aimed to explore what civic arts and radical change would look like, and encouraged not only representation during these ideatation sessions, but also longer term employment of minoritised art workers (eg by race, disability) into decision making roles. The event contributed to Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s Civic Role of Arts Organisations Programme in the UK.

June 28, 2019

talk conference / symposium
Environmental Resonance Talk for London Design Biennale's Inaugural Summit at Google HQ

By invitation of Es Devlin, Artistic Director of the London Design Biennale 2020, I presented and took part in a discussion in the Environmental Resonance segment with Francesco Bandarin (Aga Khan Trust, formerly UNESCO), Ben Parker (Made Thought) and Sarah Grahn (White Arkitekter) and chaired by Stephen Jamieson (SAP).

June 25, 2019

talk conference / symposium
Climate Fiction Comic Book with The Art Assassins at South London Gallery

Over the summer of 2019 I worked together with The Art Assassins on a weekly basis at South London Gallery. Together we developed a new climate fiction comic book that weaves together multiple speculative futures. We ideated through workshop activities like sharing media and knowledges about climate issues, narrative mindmapping, drawing, collaging and debates. As part of the research our group visited an underground farm in south London. The farm, which produces salad sprouts, is both a real experiment in alternative, greener food production and a space that got the group thinking about visualising the future, with its striking purple lighting in the long tunnels.It inspired both debate on the shortcomings of seemingly 'green' ideas and businesses focusing on consumption, and what kinds of locations and technologies could appear in our imaginative climate narratives. (June 18, 2019 → August 20, 2019)

June 18, 2019

workshop youth group
Climate Justice: How is Global Warming a Racial Issue? Talk for Sheffield's Festival of Debate at the University of Sheffield

As part Sheffield's Festival of Debate, I spoke on a panel to discuss how climate change is a racial justice issue. Together with the other speakers, we talked about how to reframe the conversation to achieve environmental and social justice. The panellists were Judy Ling Wong CBE OBE (Artist, Honorary President and former UK Director of the Black Environment Network), Asad Rehman (Executive Director at War on Want), Natasha Mumbi Nkonde (Regional organiser of Edge Fund) and myself, Angela YT Chan (Worm: art + ecology).

May 16, 2019

talk
Sensitive Chaos: Rethinking the Anthropocene Talk at Horniman Museum in London

In the context of the Horniman Museum exhibition The Lore of the Land by Serena Korda, I chaired a panel with the artist, Dr Rupert Sheldarke and Professor Veronica Strang. We spoke about the speakers' interdisciplinary collaboration together between arts, historical research and the sciences, that explore the Horniman's collection for the exhibition, and their themes on animism, non-human beings and reflections on nature in historical collections.

May 10, 2019

talk
Speculative Climate Stories Talk for Research Network: More-than-Human Care at Iniva

In this talk, I shared research on communicating climate change through contemporary Chinese speculative and science fiction, and explored the interconnected environmental and socio-economic issues in China today. Responding to my presentation, writer, curator and artist Ama Josephine Budge discussed speculative climate fiction from a West African perspective. Our discussion emphasised a positionality as global North diaspora, to collectively engage with speculative climate fiction in solidarity with global BIPOC-led climate justice activism.

April 24, 2019

talk science fiction
Undisciplinary Residency with The Otolith Collective and Arts Catalyst in London

Throughout April 2019, Arts Catalyst in partnership with The Otolith Collective hosted Undisciplinary. This new, month-long Residency provided an infrastructure for research, experimentation and production. I and two other emerging cultural practitioners Aliyah Hasinah and Priya Jay, were chosen for our experimental approach to curatorial, artistic and critical practices that seek to engage with the challenge of current social, political and ecological crises. We were based at a dedicated research space will be available at Arts Catalyst with mentorship from Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun of The Otolith Collective. (April 1, 2019 → April 30, 2019)

April 1, 2019

residency research
a-n The Artists Information Company Bursary Award for Worm: art + ecology Collaborations

I was a recipient of the a-n Bursary, which allowed me to sponsor artists to profile their practice and projects through my curatorial online project, Worm: art + ecology. Through interviews and written features, the bursary supported practitioners to join the growing network of artists, activists and researchers who had contributed to widening the conversation on climate justice and the arts through Worm: art + ecology (2014-2021). (March 27, 2019 → December 31, 2019)

March 27, 2019

award collaboration
Chinese SF Reading Session for Dream Babes by Sin Wai Kin at Live Art Development Agency in London

As part of Sin Wai Kin's long-term project Dream Babes, I held a session that introduced Chinese science fiction for the their reading group with Live Art UK. We discussed two short stories, 'Folding Beijing', a novelette by Hao Jinfang (winner of the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Novelette) and 'Good Hunting' by Ken Liu.

March 20, 2019

workshop science fiction
The Colonial History of Climate Change Talk at Mansions of the Future in Lincoln

For the Wednesday Sessions public talk series, I presented an introductory talk on the colonial history of global climate change and how it continues to disperse uneven consequences across our human and natural geographies. 'Part of Wednesday Sessions, a 6-month programme of talks curated by Mansions of the Future. The Wednesday Sessions will highlight artistic practices which are based on collaborative and collective processes, where art is actively and critically engaged with its immediate context. This series focuses on models of working which suggest new connections and ecologies between artists and non-artists, humans and nature, the individual and the collective, and modes of operation often stemming from feminist practices.'

March 13, 2019

talk
w the worm Short Speculative Fiction Exhibited with The Institute of Queer Ecology (IQECO) at Gas Gallery in Los Angeles

My story 'w the worm', published for The Institute of Queer Ecology (IQECO)'s Towards A Common Survival compilation of 33 creative contributions, was exhibited at Gas Gallery in Los Angeles as a wall print. The project was initiated in light of the increasingly difficult political spaces for justice work, bringing together multimedia, hopeful artworks to reframe collectivity alongside survival. (Janurary 26, 2019 → April 14, 2019)

January 26, 2019

writing / publication exhibited in science fiction
How Science Fiction Helps Readers Understand Climate Change Interview Published on BBC Culture

I was interviewed by Diego Arguedas Ortiz for BBC Culture on my research into contemporary climate themed science fiction, and was featured alongside author Kim Stanley Robinson, scholar Professor Shelley Streeby and author Sarena Ulibarri. I spoke about using the climate justice approach to climate narratives and the importance of reading outside of the western, cis-male-centric canon of science fiction.

January 13, 2019

interview science fiction

2018

Interview with Xia Jia Writing Published in Dream Babes 2.0 edited by Sin Wai Kin with a Launch Event at the Horse Hospital

The Moon Goddess 嫦娥 (Chang’e) in Mythology, Sci-fi and Lunar Exploration Talk for the Moon Festival at University of Greenwich

Edgeland Talk for MA Print at Royal College of Art, London

Climate Science Research and Performance for Infintity Minus Infinity by The Otolith Group

Active Online Talk with mother tongues at the Barbican

Speculative Fiction Reading Session for Ghost Camp 3 with Mycological Twist and Chaos Magic

Art: A Catalyst for Radical Change Talk for A Civic Role for Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation's Arts Organisations - Relevance, Risks, Rewards Conference at the Arnolfini in Bristol

Environmental Resonance Talk for London Design Biennale's Inaugural Summit at Google HQ

Climate Fiction Comic Book with The Art Assassins at South London Gallery

Climate Justice: How is Global Warming a Racial Issue? Talk for Sheffield's Festival of Debate at the University of Sheffield

Sensitive Chaos: Rethinking the Anthropocene Talk at Horniman Museum in London

Speculative Climate Stories Talk for Research Network: More-than-Human Care at Iniva

Undisciplinary Residency with The Otolith Collective and Arts Catalyst in London

a-n The Artists Information Company Bursary Award for Worm: art + ecology Collaborations

Chinese SF Reading Session for Dream Babes by Sin Wai Kin at Live Art Development Agency in London

The Colonial History of Climate Change Talk at Mansions of the Future in Lincoln

w the worm Short Speculative Fiction Exhibited with The Institute of Queer Ecology (IQECO) at Gas Gallery in Los Angeles

How Science Fiction Helps Readers Understand Climate Change Interview Published on BBC Culture

Decolonising Environmental and Creative Practices Lecture for MA in the Contemporary with University of Kent at the ICA

Worming Up 2! Workshop at not/nowhere in London