VOICE OF NATURE:THE TRIAL

Voice of nature is a site-specific court piece, in which we investigate ecocide* and the possibility of making a new proposal for the justice-system.
It is as an experiment with how law and justice can serve the ecosystem by proposing a reconfiguration of a court room. It explores the difficulties of granting personhood to non-humans, or how to make a mountain or a river into a legal entity. The audience is invited into a process of transformation through the realms of fiction, magic and documentary, that can guide them to become guardians of nature.

In order to propose a new type of 'verdict' in the form of a restorative contract, we experiment with combining elements from a conventional court, restorative justice and rituals. In this performative trial, humans and other then humans come together to find a collective language, focused on inter-being, intersectionality and restoration.

*'Ecocide' is a term referring to the crime of damaging, destructing or annihilating ecosystems, wether by human agency or other. Despite the global reality of it, this crime remains currently unmentioned in the Rome Statute of the international Criminal Court.
more info: https://www.stopecocide.earth/

Tour 2020

Due to pandemic covid 19 pandemic all the shows got canceled in 2020.

Tour 2019

Research 2017-2019

Credits

Concept and direction Maria Lucia Cruz Correia
Dramaturgy Ingrid Vranken
Performance Caroline Daish
Sound Design Joao Bento
Light Design Vinny Jones
Video Mark Pozlep
Costume Design Anne-Catherine Kunz
Systemic Constellation Navigator Luea Ritter
Restorative Justice collaborator Brunilda Pali
Research contribution Sébastien Hendrickx
Artistic advise Jeroen Peeters
Guardian of nature coaching Starhawk
Legal fact checking Hendrik Schoukens & Juan Auz
Research documentation Mark Pozlep & Hana Vodeb
Intern Maíra Wiener
Technician Alain Decoen
Production Tineke de Meyer @2018
Tour production Laura Arens
Co-Production Vooruit (B), Kaaitheater (B), Bunker (SL), Workspacebrussels (B), Het TheaterFestival, t-heater & Circuit X (Roel Verniers Prijs 2017)
Produced by FoAM
Residency&Research No Lugar (EC), Center for Creative Ecologies /Tj Demos (US), Artsadmin (UK), BUDA kunstcentrum (BE), WP Zimmer (BE)
With the support of the Flemish Community, Imagine 2020, and Creative Europe Culture.
Thanks to TJ Demos, Polly Higgins, Steven Desanghere, Juliane von Crailsheim, Femke Widekop, Michelle Maloney, Irena Radmanovic, Bronwyn Lay, Nina Vurdelja, coyote, Eva Peeters, Monika Meysmans, Ivo Aertsen, Isabelle de Vos.

Interviewees:
Francois Houtart: Marxist sociologist and catholic priest
Juan G. Auz Lawyer for human rights and environmental protection
Pablo Barriga: Artist and Professor
Pablo Fahardo: Activist and lawyer of UDAPT
Donald Macayo: Activist and executive member of UDAPT
Patricia Guanliga: Sarayaku leader and international relationships
Franco Viteri: Former president of Sarayaku and CONFENAI
Narcisa Simona Gualinga: Dirigent of Ancient Wise Leaders Sarayaku
Jose Gualinga: Former Leader of Sarayaku
Eriberto Gualinga: activist filmmaker from Sarayaku
Sunshine Rose: Lakota Sioux, Standing Rock
TJ Demos: Art historian and cultural critic
Polly Higgins: Scottish advocate and expert in ecocide