'Rethinking the Human' at the Centre Pompidou

Created at the Centre Pompidou in 2016 as a platform for “research-based, collaborative and interdisciplinary contemporary art practices,” Cosmopolis allows artists to engage directly with the public through exhibitions, lectures, and performances.

Previous iterations of the interactive platform introduced new forms of artistic collaborations and envisioned ways in which artificial and ecological intelligence could work collectively to produce new systems of knowledge and exchange. This year’s focus is on the "entanglement of the human and non-human" in an effort to imagine alternative futures that move "beyond neoliberal individualism."

As part of this exploration, the Paris Center will partner on a performance by and conversation with Michi Saagiig Nishnaaberg writer and artist Leanne Betasamosake Simpson on December 13. Hailed as "one of the most compelling Indigenous voices of her generation,” Simpson mixes poetry, stories and performance inspired by the Nishnaabeg cosmogonies to explore contemporary Indigenous lives and communities.

A second event, on December 14, will feature the artist and theoretician Denise Ferreira da Silva and her film "4 Waters: Deep Implicancy." The film, created in collaboration with filmmaker Arjun Neuman, gives voice to our oceans and examines the relationship between forced migration and the ecological devastation wrought by colonialism. Philosopher Nadia Yala Kisukidi will join Ferreira da Silva after the screening for a discussion around forced displacement and diaspora.

To learn more about Cosmopolis and to register for the events, please visit the Centre Pompidou’s website.