Turba de Mangle Seminar at ICA Miami

Camila Marambio and Christy Gast of Ensayos presented a seminar called “Turba de Mangle” at the ICA in Miami for their Swamp Ecologies seminar. The seminar drew on the creative practices and research methodologies related to Ensayo #6 on peatland conservation. We spent three afternoons diving deep into tropical mangrove peatland ecology and sharing writing, mapping and movement methodologies with a group of 24 Miami-based artists and researchers. The seminar culminated with a field trip to the Deering Estate where historically the Everglades flowed into Biscayne Bay. There we attuned to the mangroves during a quiet session of studio time / situated research. Mucking around in the mangroves left lasting impressions on all senses, and allowed for an embodied experience of the course readings. We were delighted by the passion, creativity, and multiple ways in which the seminar participants think about Miami’s ecological future. As artists and thinkers tied to Miami, they are on the front lines of climate change—their vision and activism can foster generous, ethical, and careful new ways of being. 

We invited participants to send in some of their field notes, and are pleased to share them here:

Amalia Caputo

Isabella Marie Garcia

Celeste Landeros

Kim Moore

Lauren Schapiro