Locarno Talks | Monica Ursina Jäger + Doris Abt

The first Talk will focus on sustainability and be led by Dorothea Strauss, la Mobiliare’s Head of Societal Engagement. Together with the artist and researcher Monica Ursina Jäger and the environmental consultant Doris Abt, they will discuss issues of ecology, climate change, and planetary regeneration.

Language: German
Simultaneous translation: French, English, Italian

Speakers:

Monica Ursina Jäger is a Swiss artist and researcher. Through a multidisciplinary reflection on concepts of space, landscape and architecture, her art investigates the relationship between the natural and the constructed environment. Recent works address the ambiguities connected to post-natural landscapes, the uncertainties related to geopolitics, natural resources and the complexities of time. She is also a research associate and lecturer at the Institute of Natural Resource Sciences, Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Since 2016, her transdisciplinary team have been developing new forms of dialogue between artistic practices and scientific research to tackle issues related to sustainability, ecology, climate change and planetary regeneration. Projects include urban interventions, green infrastructures, outdoor exhibitions and public gardens.

As an environmental consultant with a focus on education, communication and environmental projects, Doris Abt works broadly with companies, communities and institutions, advising them on issues of sustainability. In 2017, she joined the board of Fashion Revolution Switzerland, an organization committed to making a positive impact on the fashion industry by promoting more sustainable and transparent work practices. She is also a wild plant lover with a particular passion for the stinging nettle. In order to advocate the benefits of this “power plant”, she recently founded the association Brennpunkt Brennnessel, a project that aims to change the nettle’s bad reputation as a weed by raising awareness about its nutritional value, and to use the example of the nettle to broach a broader range of subjects regarding our relationship towards nature.