In this webinar we explore extractivism as a worldview, and the worlds otherwise that persist and resist, despite extractivism. We welcome exhibition contributors and the communities they engage with guide us through their reflections on the theme of ‘worlding’.
Something we pay attention to in Feminist Political Ecology is how systems of power operate across scales, and we decided to theme our exhibition event series around this idea, starting with the body and embodiment, expanding to community and today considering ‘worlding’. Of course these themes are overlapping – embodiment and community are also central to the ways in which we explore worlding. We consider how the works and contexts presented in Despite Extractivism invite us to relate and act ‘otherwise’ in different ways and through different registers. Working with the Zapatista definition of the pluriverse – ‘the world we want is a world in which many worlds fit’ – this webinar provided a common space to share stories and conversations across our differences.
To begin, María Faciolince Martina and Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik invited us to consider extractivism as a worldview or an act of worlding in a guided meditation.
María Faciolince Martina is an anthropologist, multimedia communicator and ecofeminist artist-activist working to shift dominant narratives around ‘development’, climate and gender justice. She’s currently a fellow at the Climate Vulnerable Forum, working with the Agam Agenda, an initiative reimagining the climate agenda through stories and art, and works with Culture Hack Labs on opening narratives and possibilities of world-making.
Daniel Macmillen Voskoboynik is a campaigner, poet and researcher, working at the intersections of climate justice, historical memory, and transformative economics. He currently supports the Global Green New Deal, and Healthy Food Healthy Planet initiatives.
We then invited Dewi Candraningrum to present the Kartini Kendeng singers she works closely with. In North Kendeng Mountain Central Java Indonesia, cement minings and German based cement corporations have deforested and mined their way to profit and are met with Kartini Kendeng’s resistance. Kartini Kendeng are women ecological defenders against cement mining. The women from Kendeng sing a kidung or song every time they protest, in defiance against the extractive industries. Kidung is a chant of worship and prayer, dedicated to the giver of life, the creator of the universe and in appreciation of nature, which is the source of food, clean air, and the home of all humans, animals, and plants as sentient being. Kidung is a part of life for the women of Kendeng and is a reflection of their hopes and prayers. Kidung is sung by these women during all of their daily activities, when working in the rice fields and terraces, cooking, helping their children to study, and even during fighting for ecological and social justice. These kidung are religiously sung to initiate protests in the North Kendeng Mountains.
Dewi Candraningrum is an Indonesian painter known for her uncompromising and passionately vibrant colored of portrait paintings that deal with such themes as ecology, identity, the women faces and human bodies which she called as “womb document”. She founded studio Jejer Wadon & Alas Wadon and runs regular discussions on ecology, feminism, and gender with the community. In addition to her artistic work, she also currently teaches gender studies in several universities.
Due to technical difficulties we were unfortunately unable to connect with the singers, however we listened to a recording of a Kidung (chant) reflecting on mining. Here are the words:
Kidung (Javanese)
Bumi Lestari
Karya Kartini Kendeng & Gunritno
Bumi, kang lestari,
peparinge gusti
manungso kwajiban jogo lan ngopeni
mboten pareng ngrusak peparinge gusti,
monggo sesarengan sami dipun jagi
tambang kang ngerusak kuwi koyo begal,
sing dibegal ora mung gelang kalunge
sing dibegal kuwi nasib anak putune ×2
yen kabeh ditambang sumberane ilang
njur kaline garing ilang kedunge
alas wes ditebang nganti padang jingglang
njur saiki gununge arep ditambang.
tambang kang ngerusak kuwi koyo begal
sing di begal ora mung rojo koyone
sing begal kuwi nasib anak putune ×2
yen kabeh di tambang
tanah dadi gersang
njur bumine guncang
berkahe ilang
anak putu amung uman rekasane
mung kumanan bledug awu lan limbahe
ibu, bumi, wes maringi
ibu, bumi, dilarani
ibu, bumi, kang ngadili
lhailahailalloh, almalikul hakulmubin
muhamadur rasulallah sodikul wadil amin
Lagu/Kidung (Indonesian)
Bumi Lestari
Karya Kartini Kendeng & Gunritno
Bumi, yang lestari, pemberian Tuhan, manusia wajib menjaga dan merawat.
Tidak boleh merusak penciptaan Tuhan. Mari bersama menjaganya.
Tambang yang merusak itu seperti perampok, yang dirampok tak hanya gelang- kalungnya (perhiasan) tapi juga nasib anak dan cucunya. x2
Jika semuanya ditambang, sumbernya hilang
lalu sungainya kering
hilang sumber airnya
Hutan sudah ditebang hingga jadi padang terbuka, sekarang gunungnya juga mau ditambang.
Tambang yang merusak itu seperti perampok, tak hanya harta kekayaan, yang dirampok juga nasib anak cucu. x2
Jika semuanya ditambang, tanah jadi gersang, lantas bumi berguncang kehilangan berkah, anak cucu hanya mendapatkan penderitaan, hanya kebagian debu tebal dan limbah.
ibu, bumi, sudah memberi,
ibu, bumi, disakiti
ibu, bumi, akan mengadili
lhailahailalloh, almalikul hakulmubin
muhamadur rasulallah sodikul wadil amin
(doa yang biasa dilantunkan saat Istighosa)
Chanting (English)
A Lasting World
By Kartini Kendeng and Gunritno
The world, that is lasting,
that God gives us,
Human are obliged to care
Can not destroy what God gives.
Let’s care for the world together.
Mining destroys
It is a robber,
It does not only rob the jewelries,
But also rob the next generations’ life x2
If everything is mined,
the source is gone
And then the river is dried out
Gone the water
The forest has been cut, no trees left
Now you want to mine the mountain
Mining destroys
It is a robber,
It does not only rob the cattle,
But also rob the next generations’ life. x2
If everything is mined,
soil is barren
the earth is shaking
the blessings are gone
Our next generation only left with suffering,
with dust and waste
mother earth gives us
mother earth being hurt
mother earth will judge
“lhailahailalloh, almalikul hakulmubin
muhamadur rasulallah sodikul wadil amin”
(this is a prayer that often said in Islamic mass prayer, it means:
“None has the truth except God. And Muhammad is God’s messenger, he always keep his promises, make him a trusted person”)
After a short time for questions and reflections, V’cenza Cirefice and Lynda Sullivan shared their experiences of resisting extractivism across Ireland through local traditional worldviews and international solidarity. They guided us in a closing reflection based on the idea of the Council of All Beings, looking at the world through another being .
V’cenza is an Irish Research Council PhD researcher at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Her research explores resistance to extractivism in the Sperrins through participatory visual methodologies.
Lynda Sullivan is an activist and writer from Belfast, who has spent years accompanying communities impacted by mining in Peru and Ireland
