Image Credit: Algologies by Anna Dumitriu, 2021 How artists and creative projects can bring us closer to the natural world
What happens when artists, scientists and environmental specialists work together? How can creative technology help us see the natural world differently – and understand the changes taking place within it?
As part of Dreamy Place 2026, Talking of Nature… brings together artists, ecologists and people working to connect communities with their local environments. Through talks and conversations, speakers will explore how artistic practice and scientific research can reveal hidden ecologies, open up new ways of experiencing nature and encourage us to think about our relationship with the natural world.
The programme connects local and international perspectives, from the work of The Living Coast UNESCO Biosphere in Brighton and the Isle of Wight’s Biosphere Festival, to artistic collaborations that bring together filmmaking, environmental DNA research and ecological restoration.
Speakers include artist Anna Dumitriu, a leading pioneer of art-science collaborative practice on the international stage; Ed Santry from The Living Coast which has commissioned several artists to make work; Martha Henson, founder of the Isle of Wight Biosphere Festival, which includes work by artists and wider cultural programmes. More speakers to follow.
Together, they’ll consider the role art can play in helping us understand the natural world, connect with the places around us and imagine different ways of living alongside nature.
Speakers
Anna Dumitriu – Artist
Anna Dumitriu is an internationally renowned British contemporary artist who works with BioArt, sculpture, installation, and digital media to explore our relationship to nature and technology with a focus on infectious diseases, synthetic biology, AI and robotics. She is a leading pioneer of art-science collaborative practice on the international stage and considered to be the first artist to ever create work using CRISPR DNA modification techniques.
Past exhibitions include ZKM, Ars Electronica, BOZAR, The Picasso Museum, HeK Basel, Science Gallery Bengaluru, MOCA Taipei, MIT Museum, Nobel Prize Museum, LABoral, Art Laboratory Berlin, 6th Guangzhou Triennial, and Eden Project.
She holds visiting research fellowship/artist-in-residence roles at the University of Hertfordshire and the National Institute of Health Research Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, and the University of Cranfield (Magan Centre for Applied Mycology) as well as artist-in-residence roles with the Modernising Medical Microbiology Project at the University of Oxford and the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
Dumitriu’s “Algologies” project exploring the entangled relationships between seaweed, women, science and pain, was developed through the Fabrica – Living Coast UNESCO Biosphere Residency 2021. This inspired the Black Rock Beachcombers, three permanent sculptures on Brighton’s East Beach created in collaboration with Alex May and installed in 2024.
Ed Santry – Co-programme Manager of The Living Coast UNESCO Biosphere
Ed Santry is co-programme manager of The Living Coast UNESCO Biosphere. Ed has co-oversight of The Living Coast programme which co-ordinates, delivers and supports projects that restore & enhance our region’s cultural and natural heritage, support sustainable socio-economic development and contribute to increased knowledge and awareness of and connection with nature and culture.
UNESCO Biospheres are places of international best practice, living laboratories for sustainable development. UNESCO has recognised The Living Coast since 2014 for its world-class environmental and cultural heritage and the innovative, partnership approaches to sustainability taken by its communities and organisations. The Living Coast covers nearly 700km2 from Worthing to Seaford as well as 2 miles offshore and is the only Biosphere in the UK that includes a large urban area.
Martha Henson – Producer and Founder of the Isle of Wight Biosphere Festival
Martha Henson is the Producer and Founder of the Isle of Wight Biosphere Festival, a “grassroots festival” where “nature is the headline act”, according to a recent article in Positive News and one of the Guardian’s 10 best nature festivals in the UK.
Now in its third year, the festival has swapped big-name acts for community participation, with local groups, artists, wildlife organisations, heritage sites, climate projects, allotments, libraries and a range of local groups and spaces putting on their own events under one island-wide banner. This year, it had over 116 events and over 98% of attendees gave it 4 or 5 stars.
The Isle of Wight is one of only seven UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in the UK, along with the Living Coast around the Brighton and Hove area. The Biosphere Festival is just part of a strategy that aims to connect nature and people in this very special place, where culture and art are a critical part of this, including in winning UNESCO status in the first place.
Additional speakers to follow.
What to expect
An afternoon of talks and conversations exploring the connections between contemporary art, creative technology, scientific research and the natural environment.
Hear from artists and environmental specialists working across different disciplines, with perspectives from local to global.
Doors open at 1.30pm. The programme starts promptly at 2pm, so please arrive in good time.
Accessibility
The Old Market has level access from the street to its entrance, box office and bar, with a platform lift providing access to its lower level. For venue access information or to discuss your requirements, contact boxoffice@theoldmarket.com.
Accessibility arrangements specific to this talks programme have not yet been confirmed.
Audience target/s
Anyone 14+ is welcome to join.
Audience type / suitability
Open to anyone interested in art, nature, ecology and creative technology.
The programme may be of particular interest to artists, scientists, environmental professionals, students and people involved in community or environmental projects.
Young people 14+ and adults.
Organiser
videoclub