About

Antropocenica

Situated at the intersection and interaction of the spheres ◯ ◯ ◯ of Archaeology, Philosophy and Architecture, the international series Antropocenica is conceived as a transdisciplinary exercise. The notion of sphere is employed here as an encompassing metaphor, designating both an epistemological field and a space of praxis in which these three areas of human knowledge unfold and interrelate.

With three editions already held (Portugal 2022, Brazil 2023, Portugal and Cape Verde 2024), the series proposes reflections on — and beyond — the so-called Anthropocene, understood as the epoch of profound transformations of the Earth resulting from human activity.

Antropocenica is not synonymous with the Anthropocene. The series adopts a broader perspective, encompassing humanity across history while foregrounding the impacts of colonisation and capital in the extractive dynamics generated in the contemporary world from the onset of modernity. It engages with multiple interpretative fronts — including neologisms such as the Capitalocene, the Plantationocene, and the Pyrocene — and acknowledges the significance of initiatives producing studies like the Feral Atlas, as well as collectives of political agency such as the International Rights Of Nature Tribunal, among many others, enabling the interpretation of the complex web of encompassing processes that underpin the global crisis we face today.

Antropocenica 1

Portugal 2022

[Lisbon, Évora and Vidigueira]

Antropocenica 2

Brazil 2023

[Santarém do Pará and Tapajós River]

Antropocenica 3

Portugal and Cape Verde 2024

[Lisbon, Évora, Praia, Tarrafal and Cidade Velha]

Beyond the palimpsest suggested by the expressive image of contrasting physical traces left by earlier temporalities in inhabited places, we propose the metaphor of Earth as Theatre, in the evocative sense of landscape as scene or scenic expression — stage-arena-place — transformed over time, an environment in which societies act, perform and inhabit.

Conceived by the Brazilian architect and archaeologist Silvio Luiz Cordeiro and German philosopher Dirk Michael Hennrich, Antropocenica was first launched in 2018 as an audiovisual essay project. In the same year, it expanded into a broader initiative: producing an international itinerant series fostering intercultural dialogue and open to research, reflection and critical debate on the “scenes of human drama on the theatre of a changing world”, bringing together participants from multiple spheres of knowledge and practice. In 2019, the indigenous writer and philosopher Ailton Krenak was invited to join the series. The following year, archaeologist Maria da Conceição Lopes joined the general coordination alongside the founding organisers, aiming to produce three editions.

During this first triennial, held in Portugal, Brazil and Cape Verde, Antropocenica positioned the historical experience of Iberian colonisation from the fifteenth century as a backdrop, with particular emphasis on Portuguese maritime expansion, understood as a transformative and society-shaping process. This expansion configured a new type of empire: non-contiguous territories interconnected by maritime routes. In this context, the series highlights locations that were intensely exploited in the past, within an economy based on enslaved labour in places dominated by colonists and merchants under Portuguese authority.

This perspective contributes to recognising the complex web of domination and exchange relations that underlie structural issues still experienced today by societies in the so-called Global South. The series thus foregrounds the complexity of interactions among multiple agents and factors involved in the violent exploitation of beings — human and non-human — and environments, while opening space for contemporary forms of thought, representation and the development of critical narratives on capitalism, which continues to expand urban modes of life globally. It also foregrounds artistic, philosophical and scientific expressions, including those produced by historically subjugated ethnic groups under colonial exploitation.

In 2024, Antropocenica took place with a team from Teat(r)o Oficina, specially invited to participate in this journey of the series, which was held once again in Portugal before travelling to Cape Verde to conclude the third meeting of the triennial.

We reflect on the Trance enveloping the Earth, within a complex scenario of impacts such as those that increase migrations and pressure human crossings between places, particularly affecting refugees striving to survive and pursue a better life, while predatory economic exploitation drives mass extinctions and intensifies climate change on this planet, our shared cosmic home.

Knowledge produced during these itinerant meetings strengthens the fight against the multiple forces advancing with the rise of new fascisms. Attentive and aware of this context, we affirm that together we are stronger to face the future.

In the video below, a special message by Ailton Krenak, which opened Antropocenica 1 on 6 October 2022 at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal:

Watch the audiovisual memory of Antropocenica 2, held in Brazil from 22 August to 2 September 2023 in Santarém do Pará, conducted itinerantly with invited participants from seven countries (Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Brazil), including activities at the Federal University of Western Pará, in the Murumurutuba quilombola community, and a two-day journey along the Tapajós River on the Abaré ship of UFOPA, with activities in the Kumaruara village called Solimões:

Learn more about the broader context of the Antropocenica series in the sphere below:

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