Invitation to Allting
(P)Art of the Biomass at the Earth Market

The first gathering of P(Art) of the Biomass – a collaboration between Janna Holmstedt and Malin Lobell – related to soil and nature rights (ongoing)
The Earth Market [Jordmarknaden], Mossutställningar, May 2019

Is it possible to speak of soil right? Soils, commonly thought of as dirt, are in many instances a blind spot and a matter much taken for granted. This collaborative project attends to soil as threatened resource, multispecies world and soil community, as we speculate on the possibility of convening an "Allting".

In an uncertain environmental world frequently generative of fear and hopelessness, participatory art projects can generate positive feelings of shared community, belonging, and empowerment. “Invitation to Allting” contains in its title the seeds of these positive feelings; the obvious allure of “invitation” unites with Swedish-English wordplay of Allting: an assembly and collective of people with resonance in Swedish history ("ting") as well as Bruno Latour’s “parliament of things,” where laws center not around humans but around life itself ("allting" also means "everything").

The Earth Market is a discussion festival about our relationship to the Earth in crisis, curated by Stella D'Ailly and Mossutställningar, where twentysix stall holder (artists, designers, architects, planners, researchers, activist, farmers, etc.) share their ideas, visions, feelings, reflections and fantasies across clay covered tables that act as an interface for dialogue with the visitors.

(P)Art of the Biomass used this first gathering as an opportunity to share and collect ideas of possible sites for future "ting", i.e. assembies. What laws could emerge from each site and assembly if it is treated as a parliament of human and non-human actants where not only human interests are considered?

Read more about the Earth Market at Mossutställningar website
Photo by Klimatriksdagen