Visual essays

23 / May / 2022

The artwork on our home page is by Angie Vanessita, an Ecuadorian artist whose art is inspired by the work of indigenous, afrodescendent, campesino and rural communities who defend their territories against the advance of capitalist extractivism. To discover more of her art we invite you to visit her website.

We chose her piece Noche Manglar (Mangrove at Night) because it reflects the multispecies connections that exist between humans and more-than humans: the bird gazing at the horizon, a crab exploring the aerial roots that emerge from the sea, the silhouette of two humans whose limbs become mangrove, all of them engulfed by what appears to be the spirit of the pacific coastal forest. At the center of the picture, the mangrove recalls grassroots movements who struggle for the survival of their communities. Mangroves grow in harsh conditions. In salty and low oxygen environments, they create root structures that host life, prevent erosion and absorb the impact of storms during extreme weather. Like mangroves, we believe that environmental grassroots movements are also anchored in local ecologies, defend life beyond the human, and create networks of resistance against environmental injustice and exploitation. Grassroots is a platform for social mangroves, interconnected roots that prevent planetary erosion and that extend out their arms in search of more sustainable futures.

Diego Silva

Grassroots JPE