Online Webinars (5-6:15pm GMT / 12-1:15pm EST)

What do plants have to do with creative work? How can creativity evolve through engagement with plant life? Does partnering with plants change our understanding of ‘creativity’ or reframe creative methods and processes? This webinar series from Indiana University’s Environmental Futures in the Arts and Humanities Initiative and the University of Manchester’s Creative Manchester research platform explores Plants and Creative Practice through three dialogues between researchers, writers and artists based at these two universities. Each session pairs creative/research practitioners in focused conversations on how plant life shapes creative work across Poetry, Sound, and Textile Arts to reflect upon how vegetal thinking can shape artistic practice today.

March 26th

Plants and Creative Practice 1: Poetry

The first event in the Plants and Creative Practice webinar series brings together poets John McAuliffe (University of Manchester) and Cathy Bowman(Indiana University) for a lively exchange of work and conversation about how plant life might enter, shape, and even unsettle contemporary poetry. Sharing selections from their own work, McAuliffe and Bowman will read, reflect, and discuss poetic practice, attention, and the vegetal worlds that both inspire and press on poetic language.

You can book your free ticket here.

April 28th

Plants and Creative Practice 2: Sound

This second event in the Plants and Creative Practice webinar series brings together Korean composer and eco-sonic artist Younje Cho (Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music) and improviser, artist and researcher Henry McPherson (University of Manchester, Music), who will talk about how their praxis engages with and responds to more-than-human worlds. Drawing inspiration from nature and wildlife, Cho bridges human experience with the natural world through what he calls a "pan-natural" approach—an organic exploration of sound that reveals instincts shared across species. McPherson’s work explores human-environment relationships through music and sonic art, often inspired by plant ecosystems and woodland landscapes. His research looks at how improvisation and ‘in the moment’ creativity can support our individual, collective, and environmental wellbeing.

May 11th

Plants and Creative Practice 3: Textile Arts

In this final event of the Plants and Creative Practice webinar series, cultural geographer Arianna Tozzi (University of Manchester, Hallsworth Research Fellow Geography) and artist Rowland Ricketts (Indiana University, Eskenazi School of Art and Design) will consider different ways of engaging with plant-based materials, processes and histories in textile arts. Tozzi’s current project examines the history of cotton monocultures in central India and involves partnerships with women-led agroecology groups. Ricketts’ artistic practice involves utilizing natural dyes and historical processes to create contemporary textiles that span art and design.