[30/06/17]

Worm will publish its first online interactive issue titled ‘Refuse’ here on wormworm.org in Autumn 2017. To join a vibrant selection of commissioned works, we are looking for artists, writers, scientists and activists to take part in the Open Call. This issue will focus on three definitions of the word 'refuse' in relation to ecological issues:


1) to refuse (v): to reject/decline

- Climate denial - from personal to intergovernmental, the refusal to recognise climate change opposes the actions urgently required to take us away from an apocalyptic narrative
- Racism in the environmental movement - how do we confront white supremacy within environmentalism itself, which excludes the voices of poc on the frontline of climate change?
- Activist resistance - discussing the representations of vulnerable groups - how does climate change effect people of colour, mental health and thinking about queer ecology? - and the refusal to give in to exploitative neoliberal ventures of corporate and political authorities that aggravate climate issues


2) refuse (n): waste/pollution

- Material and process - what form does pollution take, where does it come from and end up?
- Limits - what are the planet’s and its inhabitants’ limits to toxicity and their coping mechanisms?
- Reduction - how do we reduce/eliminate pollution? What are the alternatives to wasteful consumer cultures?


3) to re-fuse (v): to repair/reconnect

- How do we nurture interspecies symbioses and create socio-political alliances to combat climate change?
- How do we challenge greenwashing / artwashing in culture, consumerism and politics?
- How may speculative fictions of a re-fused planetary ecology become realities?


Why do we choose to refuse certain matters, human and non-human beings from being part of the conversation about the environment? What does this exclusion mean in terms of who and what has agency in the political power struggle of climate change? How do we culturally address issues on the frontline of environmental degradation through meaningful and progressive expressions, without compromising and aestheticising the emergency? How do we ‘re-fuse’ our social, economic, technological and political ecologies - locally and globally - for a positive and realistic attitude towards climate change?

Worm: ‘Refuse’ will be hosted as a micro-site that's free to access. Submissions can be texts, images, films, music, podcasts, recipes - any form that imaginatively engages with at least one of the three definitions of ‘refuse’ to interrogate the perspectives and stories we use to discuss ecological issues.

Each successfully chosen submission will receive a small fee as thanks. It is supported by Kulturrådet (Arts Council Norway) and Podium gallery in Oslo, as part two to Worm’s 2016 exhibition, “Tipping Points”.

Please email wormplatform@gmail.com with any questions or if you would like to chat about what to submit.

Submission deadline: Monday 31st July 2017, 11pm GMT+1.