Arts and Literatures in Extractivist Cultures

Oct 31, 2025 | Seminars

“Arts and Literatures in Extractivist Cultures”

International Research Seminar

31 October 2025

Seminar of the Department of Art History, University of Barcelona (Montalegre 6, 08001 Barcelona, 5th floor).

The seminar “Arts and Literatures in Extractivist Cultures” proposes a space for dialogue and exchange among researchers working in art history, literature, curating, and sociology, with the aim of critically analyzing the relationships between cultural production and extractive economies. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the seminar seeks to rethink how artistic and literary practices engage with contemporary forms of extraction —of natural resources, territories, knowledge, data, and more— and how these practices can contribute to the construction of critical epistemologies in the face of global capitalist expansion.

The concept of extractivism is understood here beyond its economic dimension, as a cultural and political regime that organizes relationships between human beings, territories, and forms of life. From this perspective, the seminar invites reflection on the persistence of colonial logics in processes of material and symbolic appropriation, as well as on the forms of resistance, knowledge, and affect that emerge in territories marked by ecological and social devastation. Through the presentation of research projects and case studies, the seminar will bring together theoretical and methodological frameworks that allow for the study of the arts and literatures from the perspectives of political ecology, decolonial studies, and environmental humanities.

Open to the public. Free admission.

PROGRAM

10:00 – 10:15 h
Opening remarks. Dr. Christian Alonso, Dr. David Castañer, Dr. Christian Galdón.

10:15 – 11:00 h
Alessia Gervasone (VIGEO, University of Barcelona).

11:00 – 11:45 h
Roser Oduber and Joan Vendrell (Centre d’Art Contemporani i Sostenibilitat – Forn de la Calç).

11:45 – 12:30 h
Dr. Amaranta Herrero (Department of Economic History, Institutions, Policy and World Economy, University of Barcelona).

12:30 – 13:15 h
Dr. Gabriela Merlinsky (CONICET, Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute of Transitions).

13:15 – 15:00 h
Lunch break.

15:00 – 15:45 h
Dr. Christian Alonso (Department of Geography, History and History of Art, University of Lleida).

15:45 – 16:30 h
Dr. David Castañer (HiCSA, Histoire Culturelle et Sociale de l’Art, Université Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne).

16:30 – 17:15 h
Dr. Christian Galdón (Université Paris 8, École Polytechnique Palaiseau, Langues et Cultures).

The seminar Arts, Literatures and Extractivist Cultures has been organized within the framework of the research groups and projects: HiCSA (Histoire Culturelle et Sociale de l’Art), Université Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne; PETROLEUM. Oil in (and out of) Visual Arts; Laboratoire d’Études Romanes, Université Paris 8 Vincennes – Saint-Denis; Visuality and Geoaesthetics in the Era of the Ecosocial Crisis (VIGEO, PID2022-139211OB-I00), Faculty of Geography and History, University of Barcelona; Sense of Place and Socio-Spatial Inclusion in Vulnerable Neighborhoods (SENSCLUSION, PID2021-123255OB-I00), Faculty of Arts, University of Lleida.

Directed and coordinated by: Dr. Christian Alonso, Dr. David Castañer, and Dr. Christian Galdón.

Image credit: Ignacio Acosta, Calcantita – Copper sulfate pentahydrate, from the Atacama Desert. Private collection, London, UK, 2012. Digital photograph. Courtesy of the artist.