Please note that the time of this event has changed from 2pm—3pm to 3.30pm—4.30pm.
What can we learn from ants about the diversity of life and the history of Indigenous peoples on the planet?
Created by trans-Indigenous performance artist and biologist UÝRA, the performance Espiral da Morte interweaves biological communication and Indigenous memory in Brazil, through the creation of two interconnected spirals.
Activating Más Arte Más Acción’s Around a Tree roundtable installation, the performance uses natural materials to enact the Espiral da Morte, or death spiral: a phenomenon where scent trails are disrupted, cutting off a chain of natural memory amongst the insects. Constructing these interlocking spirals, UÝRA draws a parallel between this natural memory of ants, and the embattled memory of Indigenous peoples in diaspora in Brazil.
Ants communicate through scent. Indigenous peoples navigate by oral memory. Through this coordinated, intimate connection with the knowledge of ancestors, both groups continue. Interruptions in these cycles bring disorder, disorientation, and death. Disconnected and isolated, ants and Indigenous people alike are scattered, lost from their collectives paths.
There is no movement without memory.
Access
→ This event will take place at the Around a Tree installation near Inverleith House.
→ The roundtable has stool-style seating. If you require a specific type or placement of seat, please note this in the “Access Needs” field when booking a ticket.
→ The installation is outdoors and grassy underfoot. The nearest indoor space, with access to toilets, is Inverleith House.
Events Programme
See more from Around a Tree in:
→ Más Arte Más Acción: Around a Tree at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
→ Decolonising the Outdoors: diaspora / sunago at EAF Pavilion
Image credit: UÝRA, Espiral da Morte, Cartas de Amor, 2022. Teatro Oficina. Photo: Guto Muniz.