Zoe Walker & Neil Bromwich – The Encampment of Eternal Hope

The Encampment of Eternal Hope is an expanding and evolving artwork that operates as a field laboratory or live site for cross disciplinary collaboration. Bringing Garden Edinburgh will present The Encampment of Eternal Hope, an artwork by artists, Walker & Bromwich. This immersive, sculptural environment will be a hub for events that will amplify Indigenous voices, encourage critical thinking and facilitate exchange with local communities, artists and activists about the climate emergency. Set in Glasgow’s vast former fish market, it will provide an open space to consider how we can live sustainably with Earth’s living systems. The building will be filled with playful, inflatable oversized flowers that merge with weapons of war to create objects that advocate peace. They invite us to contemplate how connecting with nature might avert the climate catastrophe.

The Encampment will be activated by a programme of discussions, film screenings, workshops and events to amplify Indigenous voices and make connections with communities in Scotland and beyond. This programme has been shaped by a rich discussion called Possible Dialogues that has taken place over the past two years, connecting social and environmental leaders, activists, artists and academics in Scotland and Colombia. At the heart of the Glasgow Encampment is a partnership with cultural and Indigenous organisations in Colombia; Más Arte Más Action (More Art More Action, MAMA) and the Organisation of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC).

Running alongside Possible Dialogues are other events including performances from La Minga Indígena, workshops on ancient plant-based weaving techniques drawn from past traditions of Scotland, presentations by youth eco-activists from Sunnyside Primary School, performances by Glasgow based artists including Walker & Bromwich, Hanna Tuulikki and Pauline and The Matches. There will also be several Leaves for Life workshops inviting us to join in solidarity with the people of the Amazon in an emerging campaign to highlight deforestation.

In the windows of The Briggait Colombian artist Fernando Arias will present a series of video portraits of people from the Indigenous community of San Francisco in the Colombian Amazon. Entitled Silence, the participants gaze into the camera whilst reflecting on the exploitation of their territories by outsiders. Their silence represents how they feel they have been silenced over the years, most recently in relation to climate negotiations involving their land.

Workshops will run throughout the duration of The Encampment. Notably, Leaves for Live, a mass action, an open call to the world to join together to collectively make leaves as an act of solidarity between the people of Scotland and Indigenous communities in Colombia. Throughout COP26 Leaves for Life, will grow a canopy across Glasgow, at The Briggait and Intermedia Gallery CCA with Feminist Exchange for Climate Justice. Leaves for Life is a Possible Dialogues project.

We look forward to welcoming you all into the open space of The Encampment of Eternal Hope open from Sunday 31st October to Wednesday 10th November. All details of events and bookings for special events will be shared across the Wasps website and social media. All events are free, and bookable via Eventbrite / Facebook.