First “Planetary Transitions: Potsdam Artist Residency” Fellowship awarded
05.11.2024
Among the mineral resources needed to achieve a global energy transition, lithium plays a crucial role. Surging demand for lithium has driven the expansion of mining operations, raising questions about the sustainability of this transformation. Artistic researchers Sam Spurr and Eduardo Kairuz will explore these apparent contradictions as part of a new fellowship programme launched by the DAAD, the City of Potsdam and the Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (RIFS).
The transformation towards sustainability is a challenge that can only be met through an all-of-society approach that embraces and builds on a broad spectrum of perspectives and fosters dialogue across cultures, epistemologies, and global regions. The arts can provide unique insights beyond scientific analysis and policy developments, challenging our views and opening up new avenues to work together towards a more sustainable future.
The “Arts and Media” Programme by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the City of Potsdam, and the Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (RIFS) have launched a new fellowship, the “Planetary Transitions: Potsdam Artist Residency”. The fellowship, which is open to artists from abroad or who have only recently relocated to Germany, is hosted on campus by RIFS. Recipients of the fellowship work on their artistic projects on campus and are encouraged to collaborate with RIFS researchers and engage with academic and cultural institutions in the wider Potsdam/Berlin area.
Out of the 68 applications submitted by individuals and art collectives, the jury has selected the residency application of Sam Spurr and Eduardo Kairuz. During their fellowship, the Australian duo will work on “Lithium Unearthed: Navigating the Hope and Hazards for a Green Future”. Spurr and Kairuz are to pursue an innovative creative practice-based approach in this project, encompassing multiple disciplines, narratives, and perspectives, to unravel the entanglements surrounding lithium extraction and consumption.
In their decision, the jury notes:
Through art, architecture and environmental activism, Sam Spurr and Eduardo Kairuz's cross-disciplinary project 'Lithium Unearthed: Navigating Hope and Hazards for a Green Future' traces the socio-environmental contradictions of emerging lithium extraction and critically engages with the flip side of its 'sustainability promises'. Their aim to create formats of public and community engagement can be crucial for social awareness and pathways towards equitable ecological practices and Indigenous justice.
The members of the jury were:
• Silvia Fehrmann, DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Programme
• Paz Guevara, Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW)
• Kelly Krugman, S A V V Y Contemporary – The Laboratory of Form-Ideas
• Solange Lingnau, City of Potsdam
• Azucena Moran, Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (RIFS)
Sam Spurr and Eduardo Kairuz will commence their joint fellowship in Spring 2025.
A second call for applications for the 2nd half of 2025 will be launched in early November. The deadline for applications will be mid-January 2025.
For further questions, please contact Achim Maas, Head of the RIFS Fellow Programme.
