OCEAN / UNI ~ PACIFIC RESISTANCE

Tracing lineages of interisland solidarity among Pacific islanders, Pacific Resistance introduces the practices of artists, scholars, activists, leaders, and policymakers who have been committed to community-building and creative resilience through nurturing acts of repair. Through conversations that act as ripples of solidarity while retracing their paths as powerful acts of environmental memory, this program inquires into building – and maintaining – alliances from Oceania's point of view.

Exploring the diverse roots of Pacific inhabitation, imaginaries, and cultural legacies, these sessions assemble testimonies from the lived experiences of various cultural practitioners and ocean stakeholders, including first-hand knowledge of Pacific Islanders. Perspectives from distinct islands and contexts open a debate on the quest for environmental and social justice across the Pacific region.

Calling for waves of resistance, this program delves into the ocean as a relational space in which alliances and political genealogies emerge. It opens a space for critical and situated reflection on Pacific cosmogonies, expanding on Oceanian notions of planetarity and cultural heritage, intertwined with environmental conservation and forms of cohabitation.

As our central concept, "resistance" opens lines of thought on extractable futures, the historicity of resource and ecosystem exploitation – through military and nuclear investments – and movements of opposition as countercolonial worldviews; the conservation of Indigenous ocean knowledges through local ecological knowledge and Indigenous conservation methods; and the multilegal spaces opened by oceanic debates as seen through manifold points-of-view.

Weaving the space of the testimonial with oral traditions, the sessions juxtapose artist-led presentations with testimonies from scholars, activists, leaders, and policy-makers, bringing an intersectional and situated lens to consider sonic and embodied practices, aural performativities, and situated ecopolitics. As such, the overall programming arch explores the role of the environmental humanities as an initiator and a transdisciplinary space for crucial debates on conservation practices and Pacific Ocean histories, while guiding awareness towards forms of interisland solidarity.

The program takes place in Pacific time zones to welcome local communities and audiences from across the globe. For those unable to attend the sessions live, recordings will be made available on the dedicated semester space on the ocean comm/uni/ty site.

Wednesday, January 31, 10 am CET / 7 pm AEST
Session 1
Prologue: Pacific Cosmogonies
Keynote speakers: Latai Taumoepeau, Punake, performance artist; Leali'ifano Dr. Albert Refiti, Associate Professor at Auckland University of Technology, School of Art & Design and Pacific Architecture Expert at Jasmax.

Wednesday, February 7,
Activation
Research – Reach out – Resist

Wednesday, February 14, 10 am CET / 7 pm AEST
Session 2
Solidarity and Non-extractable Futures
Guests: Talei Luscia Mangioni, PhD Candidate in Pacific studies at the Australian National University, member of Youngsolwara Pacific and board member of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN Australia); Natalie Lowrey, Communications Coordinator, Deep Sea Mining Campaign

Wednesday, February 21
Activation
Research – Reach out – Resist

Thursday, February 22
Activation
Orchestras of Awe/dacity

Wednesday, February 28, 10 am CET / 7 pm AEST
Session 3
Indigenous Ocean Knowledges
Guests: Martha Atienza, Visual artist focusing on environmental, social and economical issues; Jake Atienza, Sociologist, artist & content creator. Martha and Jake are co-founders of GOODLand Philippines; AnnMary Raduva, EcoChampion, Fiji

Wednesday, March 6
Activation
Research – Reach out – Resist

Wednesday, March 13, 10 am CET / 7 pm AEST
Session 4
Aural Performativities
Guests: Seini "SistaNative" Taumoepeau, Regenerative Orator Songwoman; Daniel Browning, Aboriginal journalist, radio broadcaster, documentary maker, sound artist and writer; Editor Indigenous Radio with Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

Wednesday, March 20
Activation
Research – Reach out – Resist

Thursday, March 21
Activation
Orchestras of Awe/ dacity

Wednesday, March 27, 10 am CET / 7 pm AEST
Session 5
Multilegal Oceans
Guests: Meg Taylor, lawyer at Blue Ocean Law, former Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum; Maureen Penjueli, coordinator for the Fiji-based Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) (both TBC)

Wednesday, April 3
Activation
Research – Reach out – Resist

Thursday, April 4
Activation
Orchestras of Awe/ dacity (date TBC)

• Orchestras of Awe/dacity: Collective Writing towards Politicizing the Deep Sea with Kayla Archer

This activation series will convene writers to surrender ownership of language-making in order to generate a Calypsonian-inspired poetry that not only seeks to give voice to the life of the deep sea, but a voice that defends itself. In striving for an ocean literacy defined as "gathering power as an ocean citizen", poetry and collective ritual can be the vessel in which we harmonize with the unknown and challenge the political context that violently asserts extractivist narratives over these spaces. The series is conceived and led by writer, researcher, and ocean comm/uni/ty member Kayla Archer, who will share more detailed information on the ocean comm/uni/ty site. If interested, please tick the box in the registration form to be informed on when and how to sign up.

• Research – Reach out – Resist with Exposing the Invisible

Activations are a workshop-style format developed by OCEAN / UNI that invite active engagement in the topics discussed during the semester.

A series of five activations will be co-facilitated by Tactical Tech's "Exposing the Invisible" project alongside TBA21–Academy.
As green transition narratives are taking over global political debate, humanity seems to be at a crossroads: one possible direction leads to a new extractivist wave, only "painted green". At the same time, voices from communities around the world call for new ways of existing that would gradually move beyond extractivism. How do we position ourselves in this debate and what are the tools that we can use to contribute meaningfully to this struggle? Do you want to share your experiences and research with others who hold the same interests? Within the framework of this semester's sessions, activations will support the development of research into topics such as global cases of ecocide, greenwashing, and opaque economic developments. We are looking for journalists, scientists, artists, activists, and researchers to dig into these themes together.

Tactical Tech is an international NGO that engages with citizens and civil society organizations to explore and mitigate the impacts of technology on society. Exposing the Invisible (ETI) is a project of Tactical Tech that develops resources, training, and collaborations promoting investigation as one of the most important forms of public engagement. It produces the Exposing the Invisible Kit, a collaborative, self-learning resource that makes investigative techniques, tools, and safety measures used by experienced investigators more accessible to people and communities who feel motivated to start their own investigations.

WHAT WILL WE DO?

The activation series includes five sessions of 2:20 hours each (including a break). Each session will focus on particular stages and approaches to investigations, starting from the formulation of research questions and paths of inquiry through identifying information sources, safe methods of evidence collection and verification online, and archiving information or finding data about companies. We will combine presentations and discussions with different inquiry methods, including group work and individual tasks centered around participants' topics of interest while encouraging participants to share their knowledge with each other in brief interventions we call "skill-shares". The aim is not only to explore and expand our areas of interest but also to develop new collaboration opportunities and to raise possible topics and paths to investigate further beyond this workshop series. Therefore, with these activations, you can expect to be part of:
- Workshops and discussions on topics such as safety and security for investigations, digital investigation techniques, managing sources, working with databases, investigating companies, starting collaborative investigations;
- Working groups and exercises to share new themes, approaches and resources you can use in your work;
- Skill-sharing among peers whereby participants provide brief (5-minute) interventions to each other on specific topics, research questions and concrete skills;
- Networking with like-minded people and opportunities to start new collaborations across topics and borders.

HOW TO APPLY FOR THIS ACTIVATION?

To apply for the Research – Reach out – Resist Activation series, please complete THIS FORM by January 10, 2024, and be as specific as possible when answering the questions. This will help us to better understand your interests and needs as well as to prepare thoroughly for facilitating the sessions. The activation series will be able to accommodate a maximum of 20 participants. Please note that these activation sessions are highly participatory and will involve practice, discussions, and teamwork. We welcome applicants with research and investigation experience or who are at the start of an investigative journey, with a curiosity to learn from each other, share skills, and explore collaborative paths to "fish" for information or sail across unexplored waters.