UKNA City Takeover Leicester

As part of the UKNA Leicester City Takeover, I will lead resident UKNA artists around the city as part of a workshop by visiting artist Inês Neto dos Santos:
Fermen-tour, a workshop facilitated by Inês Neto dos Santos:
Since the beginnings of life on Earth, unseen microorganisms have been performing their collaborative dance on an infinite loop. The process of fermentation taps into the activity of
bacteria, yeasts and moulds, teaching us the importance of community, cooperation and the interconnectedness of all things. Relying on a constant exchange of information amongst themselves and with their surroundings, these microorganisms - as fermentation happens - inevitably become a reflection of their environment, a site-specific map of space-time points. As we make and consume fermented foods, we can become more aware of and be participants in this site- specificity. To ferment is to be at one with what surrounds us.
Fermentation multiplies ‘culture’ into a rainbow of meanings: bacterial, artistic, social. It is a gateway through time and space – a lens through which we can understand the world beyond ourselves. It is open, levelling, adaptable, understanding and ever growing: fermentation is ultimately democratic.
The workshop will seek to make these connections visible, offering an insight into the practice of fermentation as a gateway into circular living, spanning across environmental, emotional, social and political dimensions. Fermenting, in an edible context, works not only with food but also particularly with time: unfolding slowly, in a natural process for which we simply set the scene and don’t fully control. Throughout the workshop, we will have the opportunity to discuss the metaphorical value of fermentation across human and non-human experience, as well as its potential as a reference point for better, more balanced social, political, economic living systems - on the basis of care.