Crosscuts 2024
Welcome to attend the fourth edition of Stockholm’s environmental humanities festival for film and text, Crosscuts.
25 September, 2024
12.00-13.00 EHL Brown Bag Seminar with Jan Kunnas on the history of forests and forest policy.
Jan Kunnas’s seminar kicks off this year’s Crosscuts, presenting his new book” Skogen”, presenting how time perspective in forests matter. More info and registration here
Venue: Division of History, Teknikringen 74 D, KTH
23 October, 2024
18.00-20.00 Crosscuts at Färgfabriken’s Architect Triennale
Opening of Crosscuts 2024 with screening of “Om Skogen” at Färgfabriken’s Architect Triennale , followed by a conversation.
Om Skogen (About the forest) documents the many destructive consequences of the large-scale forestry industry in Sweden, with the loss of old growth forests and its vital biodiversity and wildlife habitats. In the documentary we meet biologists, ecologists, reindeer herders, NGOs and foresters, who through their knowledge and experiences provides us a greater understanding of the irreplaceable values and beauty in our forests and illustrates how forestry must and can be done differently. Directed by Peter Magnusson.
Followed by a conversation with:
Daniel Urey, process leader at Färgfabriken
Ewa Cederstam , producer of “Om Skogen”, producer and director at Helion film
Robert Gioielli , director of the KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory and associate professor in environmental history at the Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment.
Venue: Lövholmsbrinken 1, 117 43 Stockholm
No registration required for this event.
Crosscuts 2024 at KTH 6-7 November, 2024
These are open and free events, but the number of seats is limited. In order to get a seat, you need to register here first .
If you have questions or if you registered and need to cancel, please send us an email at ehlab@abe.kth.se .
Venue
Lecture hall E1, Osquars backe 2 KTH, 114 28 Stockholm
Wednesday 6 November, 2024
18.00-20.00
Screening of “More of Everything” (59 minutes) followed by a conversation. The film is in English shown with Swedish subtitles.
In More of Everything (2021) we meet several prominent scientists and experts that help us examine the claims that the forest industry is spreading about the Swedish forestry model and the bioeconomy. In times of climate change, the forest industry claims to hold the magic wand: Wood. Wood is to be used for everything from energy, disposable articles in cardboard and paper, packaging and makeup, to fuel, for an ever-expanding transport sector. Can there really be more of everything?
Followed by a conversation with:
Lisa Röstlund , investigative journalist in DN and author of Skogslandet
Tor Tuorda , photographer and activist
Seema Arora-Jonsson , professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences working on conflicts over forests .
This session is moderated by Adam Wickberg , researcher at the Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment at KTH. He researches the role of technology in human's relationship with climate and environment in its historical, social and political dimensions.
Thursday 7 November, 2024
15.30-17.30 Ecopoetics session
A session that delves into relations between art and activism that deals with forests. We will screen three short films, followed by panel with several of the contributors.
Il Vento Solo non Púo by artists Elisa Pône and Lise Bardou – a human-made artificial forest, that intersects a unique natural, built, cultural and religious heritage in the centre of Portugal. The video shows the many organic elements and the built infrastructure of the forest, from multiple perspectives, and scales.
Fuuu... (Sopro) Tááá: Marãny by artist Letícia Larin is a montage structured by the message that a leader and shaman of the Guarani tribe wants to convey. The message is about breath as a key spiritual tenet of the tribe and also concerns the destruction of the forest.
Work In Progress by the Swedish activist group LAJA (Lena Ignestam, Ann Engqvist, Johanna Norrbo and Anna Bokström) is a satirical news report. The film humorously presents the act of chopping down trees in Stockholm’s Kungsträdgården park. Through this satire, the film critiques our reactions to environmental destruction—highlighting how people’s concern varies depending on whether the damage is immediate and visible or distant and abstract. It also offers a witty commentary on the role of forests and trees in our aesthetics and values.
This session is moderated by Nuno Marques , former postdoctoral researcher at the KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory, who works with epistemological contributions of ecopoetry to the environmental humanities.
17.30-18.00 Break
18.00-20.00 Den Inre Skogen
Screening of the film Den Inre Skogen (Inner Woods) followed by a panel discussion. The film is in Swedish shown with English subtitles.
Den Inre Skogen (60 minutes) explores the forest as a playground for art, mythology and fantasies, and as a mirror of human's own inner self. In “Den Inre Skogen” we get to follow artists and activists that in various ways try to re-establish the relationship to the wild around us. They share how their relationship to forests have impacted their lives and inspired their artwork. With artist Lars Lerin, artist Britta Marakatt-Labba, author Helena Granström, composer Eirik Havnes, artist Helene Schmitz and the ecologist and nature rights educator Pella Thiel. Directed by Thomas Jackson.
Followed by a conversation with:
Pella Thiel , ecologist and nature rights educator
Lotten Gustafsson Reinius , researcher at Stockholm University on our relationships with forests
This session is moderated by Lize-Marie Van Der Watt , Head of Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment at KTH. Her research is on the histories of the Antarctic and Arctic, with a focus on the intersection between the environment, science, cultural heritage and critical geopolitics.
