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Green Snake: Women-Centred Ecologies at Tai Kwun Contemporary


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Green Snake: Women-Centred Ecologies focuses on the connections between art and larger themes of ecology in the context of the climate crisis. The exhibition asks what alternative narratives are activated through artists' visions that celebrate nature as an all-encompassing and generative force, many of them grounded in notions of care and interrelationship that are central to ecofeminism—that natural sustainability is based on the equality of human, nature, and other beings.

The exhibition references the mythological snake figure in East Asian culture, which often takes the form of a woman when walking amongst humans. Highlighting the green snake's potential for transformation and renewal—when snakes grow, they shed their skins—the exhibition is directly inspired by an ancient Chinese folktale, dating back at least 1000 years, about two powerful snake-demon sisters, White Snake and Green Snake, whose story reveals themes of agency, sisterhood, and gender fluidity. On another level, in the exhibition, the snake's sinuous curves echo the geomorphology of river systems and the vital energy of the water flowing through them. A number of artists in the exhibition have long been interested in and researching specific river ecosystems and mythologies. The exhibition thus deepens the dialogue between works by artists whose practice is rooted in geographies with longstanding political and environmental issues.

Venue address: JC Contemporary, Tai Kwun, Central