Alice Bonnot

is an independent curator who lives and works in Lisbon, and focuses on developing sustainable curatorial and artistic practices. She spreads this message through various residency programs and lectures including Central Saint Martins’ short course, ‘Sustainable Exhibition Management’. Alice is the co-founder of Picnic Gallery in London, the founder of ‘Zone d’Utopie Temporaire’ and due to embark upon a new project, a sustainable residency programme in Lisbon. Alice spoke to Alison Poon about the importance of sustainable practices and sustainable living, of the ecosystem and how Covid-19 has affected action against the climate crisis.

INTERVIEW WITH ALICE BONNOT

Alison: Your current exhibition, ‘Triple Point’, opened last month at Belo Campo in Lisbon. Can you tell us what the show is about?

Alice: ‘Triple Point’ is a solo exhibition by British artist Hannah Rowan whose practice reflects on the contrast between constant, fast-paced human activity and the much slower rhythms of geological processes. Her work, often inspired by living nature, not only observes these natural systems; it re- embodies them. For her first solo exhibition in Lisbon, which I have had the pleasure to curate, Hannah presents a new body of work (sculpture, video and installation) that captures the moving quality of water, frequently between states of matter. By building on the existing attributes of Belo Campo (an old underground wine cellar in the basement of Galeria Francisco Fino), the exhibition aims to simulate a slippery groundwater dependent ecosystem, comparable to subterranean wetlands and caves dripping sounds of water permeating through lithic surfaces. The artist has recreated ephemeral natural systems in a continued state of becoming to reflect on their fragility. She explores notions of fluidity, transformation and interconnectivity to speak of the existential threat and anxiety surrounding the climate crisis in connection to other cosmological forces such as technology and data overload.

Alison: Sustainable practice is your main area of interest, what drew you to this topic?

Alice: As an independent curator, I have always been interested in developing exhibitions that address societal issues, whether they focus on a specific socio-political issue, or draw attention to a broader concern relating to society. In 2014, I founded the Zone d’Utopie Temporaire (Z.U.T.) residency programme, a nomadic annual art residency exploring the notion of Utopia as a vehicle for artistic and critical comment. Each year, we invited several researchers (philosophers, historians, biologists, psychologists etc.) to share with us the result of their research on Utopia, which we approached as ‘the distance a society is capable of taking to feign what it could become’ (Lucien Labroue, 2014). The residency took place in Paris (2015), London (2016), Athens (2017) and Lisbon (2018). During this time, we exchanged on many aspects relative to personal and collective Utopias, and I started to reflect further on the importance of environmental sustainability within artistic practices and philosophical discourses. At the end of this research period, I became conscious that ecology had to play a more central role in this residency programme and in my work as a curator.

Alison: Could you tell us a little about the short course you are due to teach at Central Saint Martins?

Alice: Sure, it’s a short course that I have conceived to help existing curators and curators-to-be to lower the environmental impact of contemporary art exhibitions. It is also suitable for any exhibition-related workers who wish to research and develop a sustainable and ecologically sensitive curatorial practice. The course is titled ‘Sustainable Exhibition Management’ and it provides the tools to become a responsible practitioner of curation and to curate contemporary art exhibitions with environmental impact awareness. I was supposed to start teaching this short course at Central Saint Martins in London last summer (2020) but due to the current situation it had to be postponed.

Alison: Have you thought about developing this content online?

Alice: Yes, in fact, I am about to launch a new online professional development workshop for Ki Culture, a non-for-profit organisation focusing on promoting sustainability in the cultural heritage sector. We are collaborating to host a one-day introduction on how to curate ecologically sensitive (‘green’) contemporary art exhibitions.

I am also regularly invited to talk about sustainability in the art sector. For instance, last summer I was invited to talk at the 10th Lisbon Summer School for the Study of Culture, Lisbon Consortium, under the topic Eco-Culture. Held online, this edition of the Summer School intended to reflect on the interrelation between culture and the environment, to examine the growing awareness of the negative impact of human activities and to discuss the necessity to rethink, reconceptualize and redefine the relationship between humans and the non-human world.

Alison: You have worked in Paris, London, Athens and Lisbon and are now residing in Lisbon. What incited this latest move?

Alice: For me, the urge to integrate these notions of sustainability, environmentalism and ecology into my curatorial practice came with the desire to reconnect with nature and to experience a more sustainable way of life. I was very inspired by the idea of leaving these bustling capitals of northern Europe and rediscovering the charm of living in a smaller, more rural city. So a year and a half ago, my partner and I decided to leave London and moved to Lisbon. It’s a city that has an incredible quality of life, in the immediate vicinity of the ocean and the wild countryside. In terms of agriculture, Portugal is a country that does not depend on large-scale intensive monoculture. Instead, the agricultural landscape is characterised by a mix of small and medium-sized family- owned farming businesses that do not depend on huge amounts of pesticides. Being able to buy affordable, local and seasonal organic products is something that I really value.

Alison: You are due to start a new project, a new residency in the countryside of Lisbon. What is the aim of this residency?

Alice: Yes, I am working on the launch of a sustainable art residency programme for international contemporary artists, curators, writers and thinkers, which will take place in a newly renovated farmhouse in the countryside of Lisbon. Steeped in local history and natural beauty, it’s a space that will facilitate research, production and presentation of artistic practices outside of the urban context, while fostering relationships and collaborations both nationally and internationally. With a programme of open-ended residencies, exhibitions, talks, workshops and culinary and food-based research, we intend to stimulate dialogue around contemporary issues and we seek to create a

community of ecologically sensitive and environmentally respectful creative professionals using methods of exchange and connectivity.

Alison: How do you think Covid-19 has affected sustainable practices?

Alice: Sadly, the urgency of this unprecedented global health crisis seems to have made us forget the long-term urgency of the climate crisis. Right before Covid-19 hit us, strikes and protests were taking place around the world to demand climate justice. During the global climate strike, 7.6 million people held demonstrations, making it one of the most global demonstrations in history.

Today, instead of focusing on reducing our environmental impact, Covid-19 has legitimised actions that are harmful to the environment. The plastic pollution is rising sharply, we have never seen so many disposable plastic bags and plastic packaging used, not to mention the many masks and hand sanitizers thrown around the world every day.

People are shopping online now more than ever, and the number of people having their food and groceries delivered has increased dramatically, resulting in increased co2 emissions.

Alison: Any upcoming exhibitions or projects that you would like to share with us?

Alice: I am working on several large-scale exhibitions, one of them is ‘Chasseurs de Tempêtes’, a group exhibition of French and Portuguese artists addressing environmental issues in coastal regions, such as plastic pollution and oil pollution. The exhibition reflects on different aspects of anthropogenic climate change and on the wider impacts of human activity on natural marine and coastal habitats. The title is a reference to a French rescue sailing boat operation. Every day, thousands of tonnes of oil circulate in large ships off the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Each of them poses a threat to the rich marine ecosystems and local wildlife. In 1979, following the sinking in Brittany of the oil tanker Amoco Cadiz, which caused the largest oil spill in history, French Navy launched Abeille Flandre, a 80-m long high sea emergency tow vessel operated for the prevention of ecological and human disasters. Thanks to a crew of 12, commonly referred to as Chasseurs de Tempêtes (Storm Hunters), no maritime tragedies have occurred in the region since then.

The exhibition will bring together new and existing works by French and Portuguese artists, including sculpture, installation, video and drawing. It will travel from France to Portugal. In an attempt to encourage the curation and the touring of ecologically sensitive exhibitions, the exhibition is committed to having the least negative environmental impact. In order to avoid long-distance road or air shipping, the exhibition would travel from one venue to another by sailboat.

Conscious Ecology as a Curatorial Practice