On 25th March 2021, Monsoon Assemblages hosted the fifth online event to coincide with the launch of the virtual exhibition, Monsoonal Multiplicities. Titled ‘Cultures of Climate Change,’ the workshop invited guests to think about cities, in many cases, their own cities, as monsoonal life worlds, and of climate change not as something to be fended off, but as something materially entangled within urban life and urban culture in different and unequal ways.
The workshop began with brief opening statements by Lindsay Bremner and Beth Cullen, followed by reflections on the Monsoonal Multiplicities exhibition by Jayshree Vencatesan of Care Earth Trust (Chennai), Meghna Guhathakurta of Research Initiative Bangladesh (Dhaka) and Beverly Salmon of Doh Eain (Yangon).
We then broke into groups to talk through a number of questions raised by conditions of contemporary life, from questions about geopolitics, planning and mapping, to questions about extreme weather events, community and nonhuman lives, and how cultural practices might provide opportunities to build solidarity and resilience as monsoonal life worlds change. Many of these questions were raised, implicitly or explicitly, in our exhibition, and we welcomed the opportunity to discuss them with those present.
A recording of the workshop is available on the Monsoon Assemblages YouTube Channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsEkRdYhLWw
A compilation of the records of conversations in the eight breakout groups is available here:
/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/20210325_CCWorkshopBreakoutGroupsReport_Final.pdf
The breakout groups were facilitated by research partners in Chennai, Dhaka and Yangon, as well as MONASS researchers, former students and other colleagues. To all who assisted with the organisation of the event and facilitated breakout groups and to those who attended, thank you. We hope that the conversations and their records are useful.
