The Glasgow School of Art

Race, Rights & Sovereignty: Hussein Mitha
“Europe is a garden”: the border and ecological crisis
Tuesday 8 November 2022, 5.30-7pm
The Assembly Hall, GSASA, 20 Scott Street

In a recent speech, an EU foreign affairs chief described Europe as a garden and the rest of the world as a jungle, articulating a logic of how western elites perceive and shape the geography of the climate crisis, justifying genocide as easily as demarcating and maintaining a garden. This talk by artist and writer Hussein Mitha will explore the concept of paradise, (paradise for whom?) amid devastation and ecological crises in the Global South and a strengthening of racist border regimes across the Global North.

Drawing on work and research developed during a recent residency around climate justice and education at Deveron Projects in Aberdeenshire, Hussein will advocate the idea that the climate justice movement must be grounded in a celebration of human and non-human flourishing, a shattering of the border in solidarity, and a transformation of the garden into a forest. They will share some work by artists and writers that will feature in a forthcoming handbook for young climate activists they are producing with Deveron Projects, entitled Paradise Now!

Hussein Mitha is a writer and artist living in Glasgow. Their work often deals with racial capitalism, anti-imperialism and contemporary art. In their free time they like to walk, study literature, make floral paintings and do vegetal doodlings.

The Race, Rights & Sovereignty series is a free programme of public lectures, workshops and other events delivered by The Glasgow School of Art and The Art School: GSA's Students' Association.

This event is open to all, please book via Eventbrite.