Call for Book Chapters
Linking Art with Biocultural Conservation, Restoration, & Communication
Updated: Tuesday, Mar 21, 2023
Deadline for abstract submissions: July 1, 2023
Click on the button for submission
OR Submit to: cfp.abcrc@gmail.com
Global climate change and socio-ecological crisis in the Anthropocene have become unprecedented challenges for humanity. Recently, several prominent museums and artworks have been vandalized by radical environmental activists who want to respond to these challenges. Protesters have launched attacks on irreplaceable artworks with the aim of diverting the public’s attention from artworks toward issues such as climate change, our planetary future, and true humanitarianism. Although these artworks were not permanently damaged, the image of an irreplaceable artwork as a scapegoat has obscured the relationship between art and conservation of nature. It appears that the arts have become disconnected from the conservation of nature. Do these activists create a false dichotomy between conservation of art and conservation of nature as if it is an either-or choice? Does the preservation and veneration of classic works of art, such as Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers,” necessarily contribute to global climate change and represent people’s indifference to biocultural homogenization and climate change? These are topics that deserve deliberate study.
Contrary to the actions of the extremists, we see a completely different aspect of the interrelationship between art and conservation of nature. Many contemporary artists have begun to create artworks related to the environment and biodiversity to raise public awareness. The renowned organization of artists, Artists for Conservation (AFC), composed of artists from more than 30 countries around the globe, has long been dedicated to promoting wildlife and habitat conservation through their artworks. Accordingly, a number of museums regularly host art exhibitions related to biodiversity and habitat conservation issues. The Museum and Climate Change Network (MCCN) is particularly distinguished in this regard. Meanwhile, many projects have emerged around the globe that explore how art can exhibit the ecological values of soil, water, wetlands, forests, etc. Additionally, the remarkable input of drawing as an early illustration technique in the field of morphological studies in botany, zoology, and entomology to the understanding of biodiversity on this planet adds more complexity to the connection and entanglement between art and conservation. For instance, Fairy Lake Botanical Garden (Shenzhen, China) has contributed tremendously in linking arts with biocultural conservation and communication. As Ricardo Rozzi’s 3Hs framework (habitat, habitat and co-inhabitants) suggests, there are profound and complex interrelations between biodiversity and cultural diversity, and the conservation of biodiversity cannot be accomplished by separating nature from culture.
Drawing on the intricate and existing linkages between art and conservation of nature, this volume calls for contributions that seek to identify new perspectives and approaches to integrate art and conservation of biocultural diversity at a more profound level. Not just limited to conservation, we invite contributors to expand their thoughts to restoration and communication as well. Combining these three aspects, we employ the framework of biocultural conservation, restoration, and communication (CRC), and they are defined as follows:
- Biocultural conservation “seeks social and ecological well-being through the conservation of biological and cultural diversity and their interrelationships” (Rozzi, 2013).
- Biocultural restoration refers to “regain(ing) ecological function from degraded systems, restore threatened and endangered species, and rebuild our cultural relationships with the land using adaptive methodology and science” (The Restoration Science Center, SUNY, https://www.esf.edu/research/restorationscience/biocultural.asp).
- Biocultural communication is the process of distilling information related to biocultural conservation and restoration into publicly understandable messages, narratives, metaphors, and stories (tentatively proposed by Danqiong Zhu). It is a field concerned with bridging the gap between academic research and the public, using a multidimensional format of communication across disciplinary domains such as philosophy, ecological science, ethics, art, ecological anthropology, ethnozoology, ethnobotany, environmental and art education, etc.
Along with authors of texts such as At the Heart of Art and Earth (Jan van Boeckel, 2014), Elemental: An Art and Ecology Reader (edited by James Brady, 2016), Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene (Donna Haraway, 2016), Drawing as a Way of Knowing in Art and Science (Gemma Anderson, 2017), For All Waters: Finding Ourselves in Early Modern Wetscapes (Lowell Duckert, 2017), The Art of Survival: Recovering Landscape Architecture (Kongjian Yu, 2006), Field to Palette: Dialogues on Soil and Art in the Anthropocene (edited by Alexandra Toland et al., 2018), Dark Pedagogy (Jonas A. Lysgaard, 2019), Reorienting Environmental Art Education (Henrika Ylirisku, 2021), All Art Is Ecological (Timothy Morton, 2021), etc., we search novel methodologies, narratives, art forms, and cultures that re/define the complex relationship between art and biocultural CRC at this new age.
Because of the aesthetic and epistemological weight of art works, art can display biocultural diversity, present socio-ecological crises, construct narratives, inspire environmental imagination, shape people’s understanding, urge society to be responsible for the management of the socio-ecological complex, identify significant biocultural values,nurture environmental resilience, encourage a new paradigm of biocultural communication, and much more. Therefore, out of an attitude of responsible academic research and a desire to regain the connection between art and biocultural CRC, we call on artists, philosophers, ecological conservationists, landscape planners and designers, educators, scientists, and activists to respond to this issue.
In order to re/connect art with biocultural CRC, this volume has the following objectives and will be developed into three sections:
- Section I, Philosophy for Linking Art with Biocultural CRC. Examine the philosophical foundations that separate art from biocultural CRC, analyze the limitations of nature/culture dualism, Eurocentrism, colonialism, and human exceptionalism, etc., and explore the worldviews and methodologies needed to reconnect art with biocultural CRC, including but not limited to existentialism, phenomenology, ecofeminism, queer theory, new materialism, biocultural ethics, field environmental philosophy, indigenous philosophy, posthumanism, and non-Eurocentric philosophy.
- Section II, Art Practices & Initiatives. Ask how arts (painting, music, dance performance, poetry, landscape architecture, gardening, etc.) can contribute to biocultural CRC and enrich human engagement with both art and the environment, explore how existing encounters between art and biocultural CRC can also renovate art creation, and examine whether pioneering work in environmental aesthetics has been successful in connecting art and biocultural CRC. Analyze global initiatives which are devoted to promote public biocultural literacy through art creation, exhibitions, and landscape restoration (these activities often convey messages about biocultural CRC in the context of local, place-based, socio-cultural beliefs or traditional subsistence practices), demonstrate the linkages between biodiversity and cultural diversity through local case studies, provide the insights and probe the relevance of these local cases for global biocultural CRC.
- Section III, For the Future: Toward Inclusive Ecological Aesthetics and Biocultural Communication. Respond to significant arguments in the field of conventional environmental aesthetics, such as the subjectivity vs the objectivity of aesthetic value (how to deal with aesthetic divergence), cognitive vs non-cognitive approach (whether knowledge should take a role in aesthetic appreciation of nature), engagement vs disinterestedness, object-focused vs immersion, detachment vs intimacy, etc., reflect on how aesthetic value and biocultural values can be integrated into an ecological aesthetics. Given that conventional discussions of environmental aesthetics have focused on North American, European, Anglophone, or Japanese understandings of the environment, this volume asks scholars to expand their research to include Latino, Native American, Asian, African, and other non-Anglophone efforts to connect art and biocultural CRCs. This volume not only highlights diversity, equity, and inclusion from an ethnic perspective, but also welcomes studies of the representation of diverse groups, especially those being marginalized because of their race, gender orientation, age, language, or disabilities, etc. Imagine a convivial bioculture future with inclusive communication.
This call is open to researchers of any research level as well as artists, activists, and educators. We are particularly interested in innovative interdisciplinary approaches. Although the primary language of publication is English, we strongly encourage research from non-English speaking perspectives. If your writing is non-English, we would be happy to discuss the possibility of bilingual publication with you.
Please send an abstract of your proposed paper (300-500 words), a tentative title, and a short bio (around 200 words) to cfp.abcrc@gmail.com with the subject heading “Linking Art with Biocultural CRC: Abstract.” If your proposal includes photos or other forms of digital components, please specify at this stage. The deadline for abstract submissions is July 1, 2023.
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Project Leader
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Danqiong Zhu
Danqiong Zhu received her PhD from the University of North Texas (2022) and Northwest University, China (2005). She serves as the Director of Center for Cross-cultural Studies, Xidian University and associate researcher of the Cape Horn International Center, Chile. She specializes in biocultural ethics, conservation, and field environmental philosophy. She translated and published several books into Chinese, such as Environmental Justice (2007), Modern Environmentalism (2011), Green Political Theory (2019), The Evolution of Knowledge: Rethinking Science for the Anthropocene (2023), etc.
Board of Editors (Alphabetical by first name)
Benn Johnson
Benn Johnson received his Ph.D. from the Department of Philosophy and Religion at University of North Texas in 2021. He currently works at Kagawa University in Japan, and promotes cross-cultural understanding among diverse students in his teaching. He specializes in environmental philosophy, feminist philosophy, and philosophy for children (P4C). His research focuses on the relationship between intersecting systems of domination and the liberatory dimensions of education. One of his recent works focuses on environmental justice issues concerning children (2022).
Carolina Castro Jorquera
Carolina Castro Jorquera is an art historian, critic, and curator. She currently works as a Guest Lecturer in the MFA program Image Making and Research at Universidad Finis Terrae in Santiago. Her book, Camino de la conciencia: Mira Schendel, Víctor Grippo y Cecilia Vicuña was published by Ediciones Universidad Finis Terrae in 2020. As a curator, she has organized numerous exhibitions, including Alejandro Leonhardt: Líquida Superficie Sólida at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Santiago (2021) and Rodrigo Arteaga: Diorama en expansión, at the Museo de Artes Visuales in Santiago (2021). In turn, her writings and art criticism have appeared in international art magazines and newspapers such as Artishock; Latinxspaces; The Miami Rail; Terremoto; and Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros. A participant of the 4th Gwangju Biennale International Curator Course in 2012, Carolina holds a BA in Fine Arts Universidad del Desarrollo Chile; an MA in Contemporary Art and Visual Culture from the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and a PhD in Art History from Universidad Autónoma in Madrid.
Li Xu
Li Xu received her PhD from Beijing Normal University. She currently conducts research on art education, phenomenology, and comparative environmental philosophy at the University of North Texas.
Li Zhang
Li Zhang received his PhD from the Department of Ecology and Biodiversity at the University of Hong Kong. He is currently the Deputy Director of Shenzhen Fairy Lake Botanical Garden, China and Council Member of the International Association of Plant Taxonomy. His research combines bryophytes taxonomy, diversity cataloging, and science education. His collaborative books include Bryophyte Flora of Guangdong (2013), The Miniature Angels of the Plant Kingdom (2015), The Magic and Enchantment of Bryophytes (2017), etc.
Ricardo Rozzi
Ricardo Rozzi received his PhD in ecology from the University of Connecticut in 2001. He is currently a professor of the Department of Philosophy & Religion/Biological Sciences at the University of North Texas. He also serves as the director of Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program, Profesor Titular at Universidad de Magallanes (UMAG), Chile; Cofounder of the “Senda Darwin” Biological Station (Chiloé Island, Chile), the Omora Ethnobotanical Park (Puerto Williams, Chile); Director of the Cape Horn International Center. He coined terms such as biocultural homogenization, biocultural ethic, & biocultural conservation. He co wrote and coedited Miniature Forests of Cape Horn: Ecotourism with a Hand Lens (2012), Linking Ecology and Ethics for a Changing World: Values, Philosophy, and Action (2013), Magellanic Sub-Antarctic Ornithology (2014), Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice (2015), From Biocultural Homogenization to Biocultural Conservation (2019), etc.
Rika Tsuji
Rika Tsuji received her Ph.D. from the Department of Philosophy & Religion at University of North Texas in 2021. She currently works at Kagawa University in Japan, and she specializes in environmental philosophy, feminist philosophy, and philosophy for children (P4C). Her scholarly works engage with the philosophical analysis of social issues, particularly environmental issues and gender, and also explores liberatory education through both theories and practices. She is currently focusing on Teshima island in Japan in light of environmental justice.
Terrance Caviness
Terrance Caviness is the Associate Director of Cranberry Lake Biological Station at the State University of New York – College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He received a BS in environmental biology at SUNY-ESF and MPA from the University of Colorado Denver. He specializes in field environmental philosophy, indigenous writing, and biocultural restoration.
Special Consultant
Gene Hargrove
Gene Hargrove is the founder of the Journal Environmental Ethics, director of the Center for Environmental Philosophy, and Emeritus professor of the Department of Philosophy & Religion at the University of North Texas. He is known internationally for research into the foundations of environmental ethics, aesthetic appreciation of nature, extraterrestrial environmental ethics, etc.
“The land is sacred.”
Mary Brave Bird
Art for Biocultural Conservation, Restoration, & Communication 