For the thirteenth session The Political Animal reading group discuss Forest Law, ‘a project by Ursula Biemann and Paulo Tavares on the cosmopolitics of Amazonia’, and Legends of T’sou-ke and West Coast Bands, a collection of animal legends compiled by the Sooke Band of Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Themes of personhood run through both books and become the focus for discussion in this session of the reading group. Low res files available, please contact for access.
The Political Animal reading group was set up by artist Olga Koroleva in February 2016; a number of texts from disciplines including art theory, philosophy, ethology and biology concerning the relationship between human and non-human animals have been read and discussed since. Last month saw the inaugural Political Animal event at the Showroom featuring work by several group members as well as academics and artists whose work has been referenced over the course of the past year and a half. This is a democratic group run in a horizontal fashion where all members of the group take an active part in setting further reading. For details on what has been read and discussed so far please see this document, where you can also find direct links to the texts.
In June 2016 Teresa Gillespie set up a sister group at the Temble Bar Gallery + Studios in Dublin. The group is currently run by Jessica Conway. If you would like to join the London group or have any questions, please get in touch with Olga Koroleva by email. To join the Dublin group or with any related questions, get in touch with Jessica Conway via her website.
