Aerocene en fête

AEROCENE "En fête"

Floating sculptures, music, conversations, children's workshops and an exhibition... Aerocene presents a fun and educational day geared towards sustainable, fossil fuel-free futures.

On the 25th of January 2020, 32 world records, recognised by FAI were set by Aerocene with Leticia Noemi Marques, flying with the message “Water and Life are Worth More than Lithium” written with the communities of Salinas Grandes, Jujuy, Argentina. This marks the most sustainable flight in human history.

Fly with Aerocene Pacha, a project by Tomás Saraceno for an Aerocene era, was produced by the Aerocene Foundation and Studio Tomás Saraceno.

Supported by Connect, BTS, curated by DaeHyung Lee. Courtesy of the Aerocene Foundation.

This year, the Aerocene community is gearing up for an aerosolar July 14th. From 11a.m. to 6 p.m., visitors will be able to enjoy an indoor and outdoor exhibition and programme focusing on the Aerocene initiative and the history of ballooning and zero/low-carbon flight.

While the inaugural exhibition explores the imaginary world of flying machines and the fascination they have exerted and continue to exert on many artists, the programme for this Bastille Day is an opportunity to unite artistic and scientific practices committed to climate change and fossil fuel-free transport.

On Friday 14 July 2023, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Hangar Y will be opening its doors and its skies to the public in order to host Aerocene for a unique collaborative and artistic experience. In the programme for this festive, ecologically-minded day: solar sculpture performances, an Aerocene exhibition, a participatory historical timeline on the history of low-carbon flight, a maskmaking workshop for children, a retro photocall and parade through the park, solar music, and a conversation to free the air.

"AEROCENE": A COLLABORATIVE ARTISTIC MOVEMENT

In January 2020, Aerocene Pacha, a fuel-free hot air balloon, safely lifted Argentinian Aerocene pilot, Leticia Noemi Marques, into the sky and landed back on Earth, using only the power of sun and air.

This moment was organized by Aerocene Foundation in collaboration with representatives from the 33 Indigenous communities of the Salinas Grandes and Laguna de Guayatayoc basin, in Northern Argentina. Aerocene Pacha’s launch drew attention to the devastating impacts of lithium extraction on the region’s human and more-than-human ecosystems, while proposing environmental and ethical commitments to the planet and its inhabitants.

A synthesis of art, science and environmental activism, and the culmination of more than 20 years of experimental and collaborative work, Fly with Aerocene Pacha set 32 world records for the first human solar free flight, certified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).

Launched in Paris in 2015 at the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Aerocene Foundation emphasizes the interconnectedness of environmental issues, social justice, and the wellbeing of all species. It opposes environmental racism, acknowledges the impacts of climate crises, and strives for climate justice through collective action and the empowerment of grassroots movements.

Conceived in 2004, the idea of an international Aerocene community has taken shape over the years through a series of meetings, experiments and presentations. Aerocene is an atmosphere, in the air and on the ground, with an ever expanding practice for impractical and practical purposes. It is an environment and ethical collaboration, an interdisciplinary, undisciplined community, an ecosocial movement that brings together artists, activists, philosophers, balloonists, dreamers, birds and spiders, Aerocene is active in the airspace of 146 locations worldwide, 33 countries, 6 continents: The Aerocene community remains borderless.

In France, Aerocene events have taken place at the Atelier Calder in Saché in 2010; with the philosopher Bruno Latour during the Anthropocene Monument project in Toulouse in 2012; in residence at the CNES around infra-red hot-air balloons; at the Grand Palais in 2015 for COP21; in 2018 at the Palais de Tokyo and La Villette for the Fab City Summit, to name just the biggest events. From this momentum, a French association was born to support the international effort. Today, with the support of the New Worlds programme, the Aerocene community is meeting at Hangar Y, a historic aerostation site.

FRIDAY 14 JULY FROM 11 A.M. TO 6 P.M.
AEROCENE CELEBRATES: A DAY OF DISCOVERIES AT THE HANGAR Y

CONTINUOUSLY FROM 11 A.M. TO 6 P.M.

— EXHIBITION "DANS L'AIR, LES MACHINES VOLANTES" - Hangar

Taking as her starting point humans’ universal fascination with flight and the many inventions that have made it possible, the exhibition curator Marie-Laure Bernadac, in collaboration with Blanche de Lestrange, has focused on the way in which these means of elevation and aerial transport, and their transformations over time, have inspired artists.

— AEROCENE EXHIBITION - Atelier

For nearly a decade, Aerocene has activated projects aimed towards rethinking the cocreation of the atmosphere, towards a society free from carbon emissions, free from fossil fuels, for ecosocial justice.

Aerocene has floated over 10,000 minutes in the air free from carbon in 140 tethered flights, 15 free flights, and 13 human flights. The 2020 project Fly with Aerocene Pacha, stood in solidarity with the indigenous communities of Salinas Grandes, Jujuy and their protest against harmful lithium extraction practices in northern Argentina. With

Aerocene, Pacha set 32 world records, marking the most sustainable flight in human history. Knowing that the air has no borders, even as we all do not breathe the same air, Aerocene brings together a multi-disciplinary, global community of dedicated practitioners who collaborate to promote atmospheric awareness and imagine new infrastructures for planetary mobility. By developing, testing and launching aerosolar sculptures, Aerocene seeks to open our imagination to an era of planetary harmonization, restoring the Earth's thermodynamic balance, without borders, without fossil fuels.

During the exhibition, visitors will be able to view Aerocene’s most recent audio-visual work, Fly with Pacha, Into the Aerocene (2017-ongoing). The audiovisual project documents the ongoing dialogue between the communities of Salinas Grandes y Laguna de Guayatayoc Basin, Aerocene, Museo Aero Solar and others, with encounters in Jujuy, Argentina, from 2017, 2020, 2023, as well as additional archival fragments from around the planet, dating from 2006 onwards. Prior to the London premiere in January 2023, the audiovisual project has been in the making as the Alfarcito Gathering unfolded in Jujuy, Argentina, with vital discussions about lithium extraction, rights of nature and the ecosocial transition.

With the participation of a varied group of artists, lawyers, writers, musicians and poets, Verónica Chávez, Maristella Svampa, Claudia Aboaf, Melisa Argento, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, Alicia Chalabe, Bruno Fornillo, Inés Katzenstein, Pía Marchegiani, Graciela Speranza, Joaquín Ezcurra , Gastón Chillier, Lucas Quipildor and Enrique Viale came together in the birth of this new audiovisual piece that incorporates some of the most important discussions regarding how to ensure human and environmental rights in the region. As part of this encounter, the communities declared their Territory as a Subject of Rights, and elevated a public online petition asking for their voice to be heard, and their ancestral territories to be recognised by the Interamerican Court for Human Rights.

Also on display will be Aerocene II, the latest newspaper, recently published in May this year, which brings together a multitude of voices to discuss vital, socio-ecological questions. Through this publication, readers can learn more about the Aerocene community and read several critical essays which engage with the ongoing struggles of the Indigenous Communities of Salinas Grandes and Laguna de Guayatatoc, who bravely continue to fight their ancestral rights and unique ecologies against the advance of extractive industrial lithium mining.

Aerocene supports implementing the communities' right to prior, free, informed, and consensual consultation in their territories, utilizing legal processes, artistic activations, and declarations to raise awareness and advocate for the rights of these communities. Aerocene emphasizes the interconnectedness of environmental issues, social justice, and the well-being of all species. It opposes environmental racism, acknowledges the impacts of climate crises, and strives for climate justice through collective action and the empowerment of grassroots movements.

Aerocene recognizes that the atmosphere is a common interface of terrestrial life and strives to restore it as a commonwealth of life. It envisions the atmosphere as a commons, detached from corporate control and government surveillance. It challenges dominant narratives of materiality and ownership by promoting the possibilities of a post-fossil fuel era. It seeks to develop alternative models of socio-metabolic regimes that harness the unlimited potential of the Sun, encouraging a shift towards solar-based energetic relationships and renewed sensitivities within life's entanglements.

IN THE AFTERNOON - FROM 12 A.M.

— SOLAR SCULPTURES - Parc
12:00 and 16:00

Using the Aerocene Backpack, the Aerocene community has launched numerous aerosolar sculptures lifted only by the sun and the air, carried only by the wind. Through the Aerocene app, connect with the Aerocene community to join a real flight or engage with the over 103 tethered, 16 free and 8 human Aerocene flights that have floated in more than 43 different countries. The App’s new Augmented Reality functionality invites us to live an immersive experience by visualizing the invisible drawing made by an aerosolar sculpture as it flies. Visit the location of an Aerocene flight to see the trace of its trajectory, or place an archived one onto a site of our own choosing, for a renewed way to sense the air and decolonize the earth from fossil fuel regimes. Accessible to all, the process of launching an aerosolar sculpture into the sky invites us to think about sustainable, ecosocial futures for air transport and housing attuned to earthly rhythms. See you in the air!

— ATELIER PALÉO-HEROS - Atelier
14:00 - 17:00

Cut out your masks, choose retro objects and stand in front of the mural designed by Atelier 21 as a tribute to Hangar Y, the pioneers of airships and aeronautics and the imagination of the great universal exhibitions of the 19th century.

— PARADE OF THE PALÉO-HÉROS - Parc
16:00

A parade through the park by children who took part in the Paleo-Heroes workshop. Come and enjoy the Parade to the sound of the SolarSoundSystem.

— AEROCENE SYMPOSIUM: FREE THE ’AIR - Parvis
17:00-18:00

- Sasha Engelmann, geographer, author of Sensing Art in the Atmosphere: Elemental Lures and Aerosolar Practices (Routledge, 2021)
- Maxi Laina, filmmaker, activist, author of Fly with Pacha, Into the Aerocene (2017 - in progress)
- Cédric Carles, designer, director of Atelier 21, co-author of Retrofutur (Buchet-Chastel, 2018)
- Ewen Chardronnet, editor-in-chief of Makery.info, author of Mojave Epiphanie (Inculte, 2016), co-editor of Space Without Rockets (UV Editions, 2022)

In the context of the environmental crisis and the need for a just, eco-social, energy transition, can tecno-diversity and biodiversity interact differently? Can systems of power move beyond the inequalities of capitalism and the reproduction of neocolonial extractivism of minerals and data? Can the privilege of digital memories over ancestral memories be overcome? How can we fly free from fossil fuels? The Aerocene community expresses the environmental and social importance of our relationship with the air and the living beings that share it, through open, participatory and artistic community initiatives that give meaning to this name calling for change: an era in which to live, breathe and move, free from fossil fuels.

— PARTICIPATORY EXHIBITION: PALÉO-AERO BY ATELIER 21 - Atelier

Paléo-aero is the name of a participatory research programme into the stories of the forgotten pioneers of lowcarbon aeronautics. The research has been translated into a website, a traveling exhibition and a timeline of events. To inspire the aeronautics of tomorrow, Paléo-aero is drawing on the collective intelligence of the public domain. Don't hesitate to send in your contributions to help build this circular economy of knowledge: hello@paleo-energetique.org
For more information, visit aero.paleo-energetique.org

— PHOTOS VINTAGE WITH BRUZLYN LABZ - Atelier

You'll go home with your own 10x15cm photo taken by a retro-futuristic version of the 1900sstyle wooden bellows camera. Bruzklyn Labz's (Thibaut Piel) approach is akin to that of a magician, an alchemist traveling around with his old cameras and an ancient technique of representation.
For more information, visit bruzklyn-labz.com

— SOLAR MUSIC WITH SOLAR SOUND SYSTEM - Parvis et parc

From midday onwards, the SolarSoundSystem will be throwing a party powered by solar energy and a good dose of knee oil to pedal the bikes and power the sound system. Relying on the un's photons and human energy, the SolarSoundSystem amplifies live concerts or DJ sets to produce participatory and energetic experiences in any type of venue. It is now an international network of autonomous sound systems, run by innovators and a community of artists.

USEFUL INFORMATIONS

AEROCENE EN FÊTE AU HANGAR Y

14th July 2023 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

9 avenue de Trivaux - 92190 Meudon

Stations: Meudon Val Fleury (RER C), Meudon (Ligne N)
Bus: Lines 169, 289, 389 (Stop: Trivaux-Hangar Y)

"Aerocene en fête": a proposal by the Aerocene Foundation in co-production with Art2M, Atelier 21 and Hangar Y. With the support of the Mondes Nouveaux programme of the French Ministry of Culture and the More-Than-Planet programme, co-funded by the European Union.