The Sky Assembly: Towards a new human right
This Sky Assembly invites both the general public and specialists to consider the sky in all its dimensions, interweaving the fields of culture, history, politics, astronomy, war and technology. Organized within the framework of the Topologies of Air exhibition, this event illustrates artist Shona Illingworth’s approach, which stands at the crossroads of artistic and legal practices, in order to rethink our relationship with the sky.
Free entrance
Far from being immutable, the transformation of this space is accelerating, from its composition and its different uses to its relationship with humans and life on earth. Shona Illingworth and Les Abattoirs are inviting experts from different disciplines (geopolitics, astrophysics, space law, human rights, cosmology, etc.) to share their perspective on contemporary issues relating to the sky with the museum’s public
Since 2018, in collaboration with international human rights lawyer Nick Grief, Shona Illingworth has been organizing the Airspace Tribunal, a series of public hearings held in London, Sydney, Toronto and Berlin to examine the recognition of a new human right—that of living free from physical or psychological threat from above. The hearings highlighted how much our relationship to airspace depends on our position on earth. For the artist, these discussions are part of an effort that will lead to the collective writing of a new human right which should be presented to the United Nations in 2023.
This new assembly, which takes place in Toulouse, aspires to be a meeting point and a space for collective reflection around the various stakes inherent to this right, in the light of current and future changes. Through the three envisioned panels, Technologies of the invisible, An infinite frontier and On the horizon of art, a new human right, a new shared cartography of the sky is taking shape, where earth and sky are one.
The Sky Assembly at Les Abattoirs is organized by Edwige Armand, Lauriane Gricourt, Shona Illingworth, Catherine Jeandel, Renata Salecl. With the support of Laure Ortiz, Annabelle Ténèze, Évelyne Toussaint, Gaëtane Verna, in partnership with the association Passerelle Arts Sciences Technologies.
The exhibition Shona Illingworth. Topologies of Air is initiated and organized by The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, sponsored by the TD Ready Commitment.
The exhibition Shona Illingworth. Topologies of Air is initiated and organised by The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, sponsored by the TD Ready Commitment.
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