Biotoopia conference
Connecting art, natural sciences, and the environment, this year’s hybrid Biotoopia conference takes place on May 11-13 at the Tallinn Botanical Garden and the Maarjamäe Wasteland. Focusing on underground networks, the often unseen ecological assemblages of soil ecosystems and multispecies communities will be discussed by recognized scientists and artists from Estonia and abroad.
This year, Biotoopia is honoured to welcome the distinguished biologist Merlin Sheldrake, Cambridge University, PhD, as the main speaker of the conference.
Sheldrake will dig into the complex life processes of fungi and describe how their lives are closely entangled with other critters.
The rest of the program consists of 10 professionals from Estonia and abroad: plant behaviour researcher Paco Calvo (Murcia University), art and sustainability professor Jan van Boeckel (Hanze University), poet, philosopher and professor Bayo Akomolafe (Pacifica Graduate Institute, University of Fermont), ecologist Aveliina Helm (Tartu University), mycologist Maarja Öpik (Tartu University), ecologist Mihkel Kangur (Tallinn University), semiotician and poet Timo Maran (Tartu University) among others.
You can see the exact schedule of the conference here.
Whereas the first two days will be filled with presentations and discussions, the Biotoopia art program will take place on Saturday, May 13 curated by artist and semiotician Anette Pärn and experimental musician Vaim Sarv. The art program invites the audience on a guided journey through the Maarjamäe Wasteland. This happening will be an interactive, experiential whole consisting of contemporary sound and performance art combined with ancient Finno-Ugric folk singing.
Register for the conference via our website – https://biotoopia.ee/attend/