Mirko
Winkel

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Mirko Winkel is the coordinator of the mLAB. The artist and curator teaches at the University of Bern and other places with the aim of synthesizing art with scientific research and socio-political concerns.

Susan
Thieme

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Susan Thieme is professor of Critical Sustainability Studies at the Institute of Geography at the University of Bern. She brought the Global Science Film Festival to Bern and co-developed the Social Learning Video Method. She is co-founder of the mLAB.  MORE

Carolin
Schurr

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Carolin Schurr is professor of Social and Cultural Geography at the University of Bern. As a feminist geographer, she has developed and experimented with affectual and visual methods to grasp the emotional effects of globalization processes on our intimate lives. She is co-founder of the mLAB.  MORE

Alexander
Vorbrugg

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Alexander Vorbrugg is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in Critical Sustainability Studies at the University of Bern. His research interests include visual forms of research and science communication. He is part of the coordination group of the mLAB. MORE

Laura
Perler

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Laura Perler is a postdoctoral researcher in Social and Cultural Geography at the University of Bern. In her research she investigates inequalities in relation to reproductive technologies and the Swiss asylum system. In her projects she uses audiovisual approaches and collaborates with artists. Together with Mirko Winkel, she is currently organizing a traveling exhibition on egg donation. She is part of the coordination group of the mLAB. MORE

Stefan
Brönnimann

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Stefan Brönnimann is a professor in Climatology at the University of Bern. His research focuses on weather and climate reconstruction, climate models, climate dynamics, effects of volcanic eruptions on climate and climate and society interactions. MORE

Elisabeth
Militz

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Elisabeth Militz is an Assistant Professor for Social and Digital Geographies at the University of Innsbruck. As a feminist political and cultural geographer, her focus lies on global/intimate relations and digital transformations. She experiments with affectual and feminist digital methodologies for human geographies. MORE

Adrien
Mestrot

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Adrien Mestrot is a professor in Soil Science at the University of Bern. Part of his research topics is analyzing the biogeochemistry of soils under global change to improve environmental health and food production.  MORE

Nora
Komposch

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Nora Komposch is a PhD student and assistant in Social and Cultural Geography at the University of Bern. Her research interests are geographies of the body, care and reproduction, migration and labor, and politics of the global intimate. MORE

Prisca Pfammatter

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Prisca Pfammatter (she/her) is a PhD student in Critical Sustainability Studies at the Institute of Geography at the University of Bern. Her research explores the experiences of queer farmworkers in Switzerland, using dance-based methodologies to examine the intersections of gender, sex, sexuality, and social sustainability in agriculture.

Johanna
Paschen

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Johanna Paschen is a PhD student in Critical Sustainability Studies at the University of Bern. Her research interests include social and environmental justice, transdisciplinarity and artistic research. In cooperation with the Academy of the Arts Bern, she is involved with the research project EcoArtLab. MORE

Luca
Tschiderer

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Luca Tschiderer is a PhD student in Critical Sustainability Studies at the University of Bern. His research focuses on alternative practices of work in health- and care related contexts. As part of his PhD project he uses social learning videos as a participatory method towards workers inquiry. MORE

Sarah
Hartmann

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Sarah Hartmann is a Postdoc student in Critical Sustainability Studies at the University of Bern. Her research looks at issues around work, transnational mobilities and future transformations in healthcare from a critical sustainability perspective. MORE

CLOSE
Residency
Nora Komposch
Adrien Mestrot
Lucy Sabin
2022
Soil
Exhibition
Spain

Elusive Exposures Event Series

This project explores and attempts to trace the effects of pesticides and other contaminants on human bodies and the rest of the environment. A programme of events will take place throughout May 2022 at the Institute of Geography of the University of Bern. 

Elusive Exposures brings together artist Lucy Sabin, geographer Nora Komposch, and soil scientist Professor Adrien Mestrot. The programme they have devised combines artistic and scientific approaches. Collaborations take the form of creative mapping, excursions and workshops, symposia, and an art exhibition. 

Sabin will collaborate with Komposch and Mestrot to develop creative processes for making toxicity visible and communicating experiences of exposure. The residency team is guided by a commonly held question: How can we make exposures to toxicity visible while conveying scale and complexity? 

The inquiry draws upon preliminary fieldwork in Huelva, Southwest Spain, as well as local farming practices in the region surrounding Bern. Huelva is an area of intensive agricultural and industrial activity. Elusive Exposures began with the idea to create a digital map showing sources and trajectories of pollution in the province, such as pesticides, smokestacks, waste dumps, and heavy metals from mining.

The resultant programme is intended as a forum for developing multidisciplinary methods and networks that will feed into future research projects on related themes. Throughout this investigative residency, the team are joined by colleagues researching pesticides as well as partners at laboratories and farms.

 

 

09/05/2022

Tour of Batati farm in Sutz | 08.00-12.30

See where food comes from; experience farming with Plant Protection Products. Open to all at GIUB. Max. 13 people. Priority to those who  can also attend the tour on 

23/05

RSVP by 02/05

 

12/05/22

Protecting plants, risking environments

16.00-18.00, Room 001, GIUB

Toxic relations are part of late industrial contexts. Toxicity is inscribed in bodies and landscapes. Since the publication of Silent Spring (Carson 1962), the toxic effects of pesticides have become increasingly apparent. Yet pesticides and their legacies of harm persist in widespread circulation, now more than ever.

Plant protection products or PPPs are, according to the European Commission, pesticides that “protect crops or desirable or useful plants”… while often risking the health of surrounding ecosystems. This symposium features a panel of three researchers from the University of Bern who approach the topic of plant protection products from different angles.  

Dr. Abdallah Alaoui considers what a sustainable transition might look like, within the context of global health. Dr. Natacha Van Groeningen examines the authorization and risk assessment of PPPs here in Switzerland. While Dr. Aurea C. Chiaia-Hernández traces the sources and trajectories of PPPs across the environment.

 

17/05/22

Uneven geographies of pesticide production, trade and use

12.00-14.00, Room 002

Berner Humangeographisches Kolloquium. Lecture by Professor Christian Berndt (Universität Zürich)

 

23/05/22

Tour of Balmeggberg farm plus lunch | 08.00-14.00

Experience land management following natural rhythms. Open to all at GIUB. Priority to those who can also attend the tour on 09/05. Max. 13 people

RSVP by 15/05

 

24/05/22

Exposición (exhibition/exposure)

Location and timings to be confirmed

A series of works in progress by artist-in-residence Lucy Sabin (UCL) inspired by fieldwork in Huelva with Nora Komposch

 

Take Part

To book your place on the fieldtrips, join the project mailing list, or suggest a collaboration email Lucy, Nora and Adrien at

elusiveexposures@gmail.com