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Join for an immersive workshop making terrarium microcosms in and around the Jameel.  Microcosms are isolated ecosystems that sustain their life cycles without human intervention. The workshop is led by artist and facilitator Kiran Kannan. This event will guide participants to learn about the different calculations and feelings that go into building worlds that exist without us.

The workshop is organised by the Assembly 2022-2023 member Auguste Nomeikaite as part of the 2023 Youth Takeover.

Materials will be provided to all attendees. Limited capacity, free to attend.

Kiran Kannan is a self-taught ecologist whose practice focuses on self-sustaining ecosystems. Embracing research through observation, he builds contained microcosms that live in isolation from human interference. A natural forager and a practitioner of curiosity, Kannan builds micro-worlds made up of hundreds of plant species and microorganisms. In his spare time Kannan documents rare and endangered species found in the UAE, hikes and goes on walks with Nature.

Auguste Nomeikaite‘s practice is a swirl of photography, film, and writing, rippling outwards and against the inceptive violences of her history. Thematically, the work explores interpersonal relationships, often using sociological inputs, and also grapples with broader ecological concerns. Her art pursues new tonalities, constructing narratives of reclamation and agency against dominant forms. She studies her subjects and the manipulations of modernity through a feminist-leftist lens. Auguste’s interventions turn not on cynicism, but empathy. On sympathy and care, and in the development and deployment of non-academic knowledges. A nest and negotiation, a tonic of affirmation—the work does not shy away from the contradictions of identity, and traces the potential of aesthetics in a cathartic vein. Auguste likes the rain.