In the Courtroom with Rocks
Marina Sulima & Olivia d’Cruz
The recently in Groningen graduated artists Marina Sulima (Moldavië) and Olivia d’Cruz (India) present a mixed media exhibition about the earthquakes in the province of Groningen, caused by the extraction of natural gas. They draw parallels to problematic mining areas elsewhere in the world, in Indonesia and India. This exhibition is part of a long-running collaboration with the PBD Culture Fund, about the moving Groninger soil.
The Enlightenment taught us that the Earth is a passive ball of resources spinning endlessly across the galaxy. Following this epiphany came decades of rampant extraction, washing of sensitive ecosystems with petrochemicals, altering the soil, waters and atmosphere. There’s now enough evidence to suggest that the Earth is not just a static background indifferent to human actions, but rather that it is sensitive and is able to react to its abuse.
In The Courtroom with Rocks examines three locations in which the geological layer of the earth responds to resource extraction; drilling induced earthquakes in the province of Groningen, The Netherlands, a blowout of a natural gas well triggering the eruption of a mud volcano in Sidoarjo, Indonesia and a hybrid ecosystem at an abandoned iron ore mine in Goa, India.
By borrowing the structure of a court case, various films, animations and installations convene to visually investigate some of the complexities around mining and their implications on different landscapes and their inhabitants.
This project is part of Renewed Energy, a multi-year project cooperation between BPD Cultuurfonds and Noorderlicht.