Soil stories

This hybrid session explores how to use art and design to further the life of soil after it can no longer be used for agricultural purposes. Building on field research carried out in Kuching, Malaysia, the impact of gardening on emotional and spiritual well-being experienced by urban cultivators is explored through experimental research creation methods. The approach combines experimental geography, decolonial research and artistic exploration to create a  multidisciplinary project that explores how cultivation enables diverse forms of caring for people and their environments. Anna and Melody extend this investigation into practices of socio-ecological care by repurposing materials no longer useful for science–otherwise viewed as waste–into art. We use a creative approach to continue the life of geographic research as we expand our understanding of the stories that these soils can share.

About the speakers

Anna Noel is a Design and Urban Studies student at Concordia. Her multidisciplinary art and design practice focuses on the exploration of materials through care and experimentation. Her practice recontextualizes environmental and experiential research and reimagines how materials can be used. As she learns from materials she engages with, she explores how we deepen our understanding of relationships to others and to the environment. She holds attentiveness to material sustainability and continuation of care throughout a project's lifespan and is on an ongoing journey to explore how art and design can hold space for play, connections and sustainable learning.

Melody Lynch is a human-environment geographer and PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at McGill University. She uses mixed methods to critically explore how socio-ecological processes affect the wellbeing of individuals and communities across lines of difference. She works with women, ethnic minorities and Indigenous groups on collaborative projects aimed at documenting and addressing structural inequalities. Her research is applied to support positive change for the communities with whom she works.