summary: This worksession intends to be a moment of collective learning, to make tangible invisible colonial mechanisms of hierarchy and oppression that are prevalent in everyday communication technologies, yet often difficult to comprehend.
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**Date:** Saturday 8 June<br>
**Unpredictable Weather Back up Date:** Sunday 9 June<br>
**Participation:** is limited, to join please send an email to info@varia.zone with [colonial infrastructures: containerisation] in the subject.
Colonial Infrastructures worksessions intend to be moments of collective learning to make tangible invisible colonial mechanisms of hierarchy and oppression that are prevalent in everyday communication technologies, yet often difficult to comprehend. For this edition we will cycle around a small portion of Rotterdam port, investigating pollution through the embodied approach of Yeon Sung, and personal relations to the impersonal containerisation with Czarina Calinawagan.
*"The port is the gateway to the northwest Europe. Everything comes in here from iron ore to coal, from raw materials for the chemical industry to vegetables and fruit, and much more! Along the route, the layers of stacked containers resemble colorful works of art, you will see impressive port areas, and you will unexpectedly find yourself surrounded by lush nature. The Port of Rotterdam is working continuously to improve accessibility and strengthen our position as Europe’s largest logistical and industrial hub."*
Yeon Sung 연성 (she/her/hers) is an artist-researcher based in Rotterdam and South Korea. As a child of a generation traumatized by Japanese colonial occupation, her artistic practice is centered on the critical examination of colonial dynamics at the intersection of sociopolitics, environment, and technology through the lens of non-human beings. Weaving a non-Eurocentric narrative with DO-IT-YOURSELF (DIY) tactics through accessible technology and bodily engagement, she experiments with artistic practices as a decolonial method that challenges dominant power structures and democratizes art for audiences of all economic and social statuses.
*Cycling the Unknown* is a participatory performance series that explores polluted weather as a collective embodied phenomenon. In this cycling experience, participants are invited to pedal through the Rotterdam port their own bikes, collectively ‘weathering’ under the guidance of the artist.
Czarina Calinawagan is an artist-researcher from the Philippines and currently living in Rotterdam. She experiments on geolocative media, mapping, and AR as a creative-reflective process of storytelling and the layers of narratives through augmenting the spaces of which they emerge.
*Sentimental Archives* investigates the Rotterdam port as the artist follows her father’s postal letters, postcards and journal who were working as a Filipino seafarer in container ships in the 70s and 80s. Through AR, she explores hidden stories and invisible labour, layering these narratives to contrast between the massive infrastructures of the port and intimate memories.
To attend the bike tour participants will need to bring their own bike, and be comfortable to cycle for up to 3h. We will have vegetarian snacks to share but bringing a packed lunch and water bottle is advised. We will have many breaks on route, and will cycle +/- 12km. For further questions about the day then feel free to reach out to info@varia.zone.
This series falls under Varia's Counter Coloniality research thread and is supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL.
* texts lifted from The Port of Rotterdam communication materials.
