Challenging Co2lonialism – Adventures in the Hague and Venice

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The UK Tar Sands Network has been on the move in the last few weeks with friends from both the Canadian tar sands and the Gulf of Mexico. In the wake of the recent Shell spill in the Gulf we came together with the Indigenous Environmental Network to stage a living exhibition outside the Shell AGM with Monique Verdin.

Read a blog by Monique here  and check out this great film made by Disobedient Films

Then we headed to Venice to witness the unveiling of the Canadian entry to the 2016 Venice Biennale. The intervention by Canadian landscape architect Pierre Bélanger offers a powerful entry-point into challenging Canada’s identity internationally as a resource empire. Eriel Deranger opened the work with a powerful poem about the ‘Indian Act’ and spoke in a series of talks about the Canadian tar sands, global mining practices and decolonisation.

We are excited to see how ‘Extraction’ develops over the next few months bringing vital questions about Canada’s global role in mining and its environmental, social and climate impacts to the forefront . We will continue to work with folks on the front lines challenging C02lonialism with bravery, creativity and tenacity, stay tuned!