Horrifying plants, mythical pregnant trees and houseplant kin - join FLP and Anna Souter for an eco-feminist lecture connecting plant knowledge to motherhood
CLASS DESCRIPTION
For centuries, scientific, literary, and artistic narratives of plant reproduction have been utilised to oppress those not identified as white, male, and heterosexual. But alongside this oppression, vegetal sexualities and modes of parenthood have always simultaneously posed a disrupting force, pushing tendrils of plurality into binary systems, flourishing resolutely in the cracks of accepted conceptions of gender roles, motherhood, sexuality, and parental responsibility within the colonial-patriarchal system.
Taking a cue from horror-genre representations of uncontainable plants, the swollen pregnant body, and the bloody blossoming of childbirth, this lecture weaves a path through Victorian notions of mothering houseplants, mythical pregnant trees, self-fertilising shrubs, and Indigenous relations of multi-maternal care for children and plants. An ecofeminist perspective is used throughout to track some of the ways in which, together, plant knowledge and (m)otherhood might offer ways to disrupt damaging societal norms.
ABOUT OUR LECTURER
Anna Souter (she/her) is a writer, researcher, and curator with an interest in the intersections between contemporary art, place, and ecology. As an art critic and journalist, her work has been published by The Architectural Review, Burlington Contemporary, The Guardian, Hyperallergic, and Resurgence & Ecologist, among others. Her curatorial projects include collaborations with Omved Gardens, Roman Road, Lychee One, and RCA Critical Practice. She also writes fiction and has participated in research groups and residencies with Kone Foundation, Corridor8, Exposed Art Projects, and Artquest Peer Forum at Camden Art Centre. and has participated in research groups and residencies with Kone Foundation, Corridor8, Exposed Art Projects, and Artquest Peer Forum at Camden Art Centre.
INSTAGRAM: @annasouter
WEBSITE: https://annasouter.net/
SPRING TERM 2025
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Monday 3rd March
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Monday 10th March
Jennifer Anyan (she/her)
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Monday 17th March
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Monday 24th March
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Monday 31st March
Dr. Noam Yadin Evron (she/her)
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Monday 7th April
Lucy Cooke (she/her)
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Monday 14th April
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Plant Parenthood: A Potted History Of Vegetal Reproduction And (M)Otherhood
Monday 21st April
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Monday 28th April
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RECORDING
A recording of the lecture will be sent out by The Feminist Lecture Program after the event finishes, within 2 hours of the end of the class. This email will also contain any resources/reading list the lecturer shares.
Please add [email protected] to your email contacts to ensure you receive the recording as expected.
Please note that the recording will expire 7 days after sending.
PAY WHAT YOU CAN
Everyone is welcome to join this Pay-What-You-Can class. We suggest a donation of 20, however, we understand that may not be possible for everybody. Please be honest and pay what you can afford so that we can continue to offer our sessions on a donation basis.
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And that's it!
We're really looking forward to you joining us x
