Research of recent decades reveals how plant intelligence is vastly more complex and multifaceted than Western science has previously recognised. Plants communicate, interpret and learn. They warn each other of danger and respond intelligently in their relationships. These new insights call into question our assumptions about other-than-human lifeforms – could this usher in a shift in our relationship to the rest of the living world?
The event is a live podcast conversation in collaboration with the Forest of Thought Podcast, hosted by Ingrid M. Rieser.
When: November 26 at 19.00-20.00
Where: Vasasalen, Uppsala Art Museum, see map here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/MYebq6tnWdsoXSNDA
Tickets: Book your ticket via Tickster (click here)
Price: 60 SEK Free admission for people under 26
Participants
Jonna Bornemark – philosopher and author
Ingrid M. Rieser – producer and host of the Forest of Thought podcast
In modern culture, we have learned to see ourselves as independent individuals in a mechanical world—clearly separated from the nature around us. But what if this idea is not the whole truth? And what becomes possible if we dare to shift how we understand the world?
The conversation takes as its point of departure Eija-Liisa Ahtila’s exhibition A Possible Image – of what is just becoming reality, which invites alternative ways of perceiving ecological relationships. Ahtila depicts how the lifeworlds of different species—their sensory perceptions, rhythms, and conditions of life—exist side by side within a shared, fragile space. A space that is sustained through the diversity of its inhabitants.
Here we encounter Jonna Bornemark’s philosophical work. In her books—including Jag är himmel och hav (I Am Sky and Sea) and the series Vrida världen (Turning the World)—she explores how reality expands when we let go of simplified boundary‑making. She writes about pregnancy as a condition in which two lives are merged yet still distinct: one and two at the same time. An experience that challenges our most fundamental ideas about identity, relationship, and autonomy.
The conversation moves between ecology, philosophy, and lived experience—from the lifeworlds of other species to human relationships. Special attention is also given to Ahtila’s new artwork in the Ulleråker area, Ulleråker Madonna, which engages with questions of attachment, ecology, vulnerability, and the memory of a place.
The conversation is moderated by Ingrid M. Rieser, producer and host of the ecophilosophical podcast Forest of Thought. In her podcast, she meets researchers, thinkers, artists, and writers to explore how we might find more attentive and sustainable ways of living in relation to the living world.
https://konstmuseum.uppsala.se/kalendarium/live-podcast-sammanvavda-livsvarldar/