Conversation with Donna Haraway and Vinciane Despret

In an ailing planet, where life is in increasing danger of extinction, the human species must change the story of its supposed superiority. We now know that interdependence among species is a crucial element of life but, from the western standpoint, the natural world still keeps being presented as an alien reality with which we only relate from a position of taming and control. Can we find other ways of approaching the complexity of life that would make us rethink our role as a species? What practices could drive transformation in this direction? The philosophers Donna Haraway and Vinciane Despret have devoted a considerable part of their writings to these questions and have worked together on several projects in this area of research, including the audio-visual piece Camille & Ulysse, by Diana Toucedo, which will serve as the focal point for their conversation. Since we are faced with a future will often be reduced to the point of collapse, they both suggest that we should learn to live together on the basis of this transformative point of view.

The session, part of the programming of the City and Science Biennial, will be moderated by Maria Ptqk, curator of the exhibition “Science Friction”, to which Haraway and Despret have contributed. Researcher and writer Christian Alonso, oral narrator Inés MacPherson,"Camille & Ulisse" director Diana Toucedo and 3D artist and animator Marija Avramovic will also participate.

Donna Haraway and Vinciane Despret will be speaking online.