NAS Art Forum | Keg de Souza

Plants have always moved over and between land masses, transported both intentionally and inadvertently from their native lands to new ones. The spread has accelerated over the past few hundred years through European colonial expansion, massively altering ecosystems. We now live in a world where the legacy of colonialism on land and landscape through this movement of plants has left lasting impacts, many of which have propelled us towards climate crisis.

Keg will speak about some recent projects examining various plant narratives such as, the pedagogical potential of plants through a sculptural learning garden, the repatriation of Indigenous knowledge through an exploration of colonial archives, and the movement of plants through empire for colonial expansion. 

Keg de Souza is an artist of Goan ancestry who lives and works on unceded Gadigal land in Sydney. Architecturally trained, she creates social and spatial environments, making reference to her lived experiences of squatting and organising with projects that use plant and food politics, temporary architecture, publishing and radical pedagogy. De Souza draws from personal experiences of colonialism – from her own ancestral lands being colonised to living as a settler on other peoples’ unceded lands – to inform her layered projects that centre marginalised voices and lesser-known stories for learning about Place. Keg has made projects for Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh; ACCA; Arts House; South London Gallery; Artspace, Sydney; Setouchi Triennale; Biennale of Sydney; Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; Delfina Foundation, London; Atlas Arts, Isle of Skye; Auckland Triennial and Jakarta Biennale. 

Art Forum

The NAS Art Forum is a weekly public lecture intended to enrich the school community with contributions by guest speakers on a broad range of subjects considered to be of interest to NAS staff, students and the public.

Previous speakers have included notable art industry professionals on subjects covering visual arts, cultural theory and humanities.

NAS Forum lectures are held Wednesday lunchtime from 12.45 – 1.30pm during teaching weeks.