Back to Earth: Contested Histories of Outer Space Travel

Artists: Nuotama Bodomo, Subash Thebe Limbu, Zahy Tentehar, and Alice dos Reis 

Back to Earth: Contested Histories of Outer Space Travel is a multimedia exhibition and discursive program that seeks to critically engage mainstream narratives of space exploration. The program features films by Nuotama Bodomo (Ghana), Subash Thebe Limbu (Nepal), Zahy Tentehar (Tentehar-Guajajara, Brazil), and Alice dos Reis (Portugal).

Addressing the ways in which imaginaries of outer space travel, space tourism, and cosmic mining continue to naturalize colonization and dispossession of people on Earth, the exhibition takes an intersectional approach to new planetary imaginaries. Back to Earth convenes artists and filmmakers who from their Indigenous, Asian, Black, and feminist perspectives are reflecting on the implications of space exploration for racialized communities, as these exploratory endeavors continue to assert technocratic ideas of progress that erase, negate, and disavow the capacity of diverse forms of life to exist and thrive on our planet.

Following philosopher Kelly Oliver’s provocative question: “How do we share the Earth with those with whom we don’t share the world?”  the program invites conceptions of the world that do not begin from a totalizing view of the globe, but ones that depart from a broader imagining of worlds-within-the-world. Alongside the films, the exhibition will include discursive engagements with artists and writers who can provide critical new perspectives on the urgency of repositioning the narratives of outer space travel. The intersection of imaginaries will highlight how visual experiments can help us rethink our role in building worlds that are grounded on earth, that are rooted in interdependence, and that foreground mutual accountability. Visit canalprojects.org for the screening program, talks, and other activities.

Lecture: “From Earth to World: How do we share the Earth with those with whom we do not share the world?”
Dr. Kelly Oliver
Friday, May 5, 7–9pm

The first images of Earth from space taken by the Apollo missions in the 1960s were met with contradictory responses. The Earth was seen as fragile, tiny, and insignificant compared to the vastness of space; at the same time, it was seen as singular, awesome, and miraculous. For some, the images of the Earth from space triggered an urgent sense of protectiveness for our planetary home. For others, they inspired the longing to leave Earth behind and find new homes beyond the precarious planet we inhabit.

In her lecture, Dr. Kelly Oliver will discuss how these contradictory responses to seeing the Earth from space signaled the need to rethink our bond to the Earth, our status as earthlings, and our relationships with Earth’s co-inhabitants. When philosophers define the moral community, it is made up of either rational, sentient, or intentional beings, and usually only human beings. What if instead, we start our ethical thinking with earthlings? All living beings, human and nonhuman, are earthlings–at least all living beings we know of so far. We are of the Earth, we belong to the Earth. Yet, as different species and as different peoples, we inhabit different worlds. When our worlds collide, whatever our differences, we can’t deny our shared bond to the Earth. Co-habitation on our shared planet is not only our lot, but also our responsibility. We have a responsibility to share the Earth even if we don’t share a world.

Save the date:

Dwelling
Ground Floor Gallery, June 16–July 29, 2023
Opening reception: Friday, June 16, 6–8pm

Canal Projects presents Dwelling, a group exhibition with works by Marcus Jahmal, Cheyenne Julien, Ho Jae Kim, Kenrick McFarlane, Kyung-Me, and Woody de Othello. The exhibition examines social-spatial politics and how the built environment confines and weighs on its inhabitants.

About Canal Projects 
Canal Projects is a nonprofit contemporary arts organization dedicated to supporting forward-thinking local and international artists at pivotal moments in their careers. Through production, exhibition, research, and interpretation of this work, Canal Projects intends to foster artistic practices that challenge and reflect on the current moment. Canal Projects is generously supported by the YS Kim Foundation. 

Visit canalprojects.org for further details.