Global Reproduction – Intimate Lives: Dialogical Installations and Encounters
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Project description
Global Reproduction – Intimate Lives: Dialogical Installations and Encounters brings
research, art, and different target publics into an engaged dialogue about how global
politics shape reproductive experiences across the globe. The Agora project consists of
six Dialogical Installations, each of which offers a case study on a particular aspect of
transnational reproduction in the form of interactive art installations, and a series of
Encounters on global reproduction, which are events in diverse formats designed for
specific audiences. The installations are based on the SNSF-funded research and
intensive field work. Both the Dialogical Installations and Encounters will take place at
the Kornhausforum Bern for three months in 2026, from where we will reach out to
secondary schools, reproductive health institutions, political organizations, affected
social groups and a diverse interested public. The Agora project is the result of a
collaboration between the Social and Cultural Geography Research Group, led by Prof.
Carolin Schurr, and the mLAB, which specializes in art-science collaborations, both
based at the Department of Geography at the University of Bern. In view of the current
societal debates about reproductive rights, the Agora project offers a research-based
space to advance discussions on the transnational dimension of reproductive
in/justice. It will explore the following Questions: Which individuals and social groups
can or cannot fulfill their reproductive desires? Who is encouraged to use
contraception, persuaded to use permanent contraceptive methods, or even forced to
undergo sterilization? Who has access to adoption, egg or sperm donation, surrogacy,
or other reproductive and reprogenetic technologies? How does this vary around the
world? Which transnational linkages define access to reproductive health for certain
groups? How are we, here in Switzerland, affected when people on the other side of the
globe experience reproductive injustices? In short, Global Reproduction – Intimate
Lives explores how global and national politics encourage or discourage certain groups
to reproduce and how these groups experience their reproductive journeys. Six
Dialogical Installations provide a differentiated view on different cases of reproductive
injustices around the globe through a transnational, research- and art-based
approach. Using a variety of artistic media and narrative techniques, and drawing on
ethnographic and multi-modal research methods, each Dialogical Installation provides
an in-depth insight into one scientific case study, namely: (1) asylum-seeking women’s
experiences of birth in collective asylum centers in Switzerland; (2) low-income mestizo
women’s experiences of sterilization in the aftermath of Mexico’s population control
campaigns; (3) Moroccan seasonal migrant mothers’ reproductive health challenges
during Spain’s berry harvest; (4) the experiences of surrogate workers in Russia and
Ukraine of carrying out a pregnancy for (inter)national commissioning parents; (5) Sri
Lankan parents’ experiences of relinquishing a child for adoption; and (6) women’s
experiences of donating and receiving oocytes in Spain’s fertility industry. On display
will be artistic work such as a multi-channel video installation, artistic body maps, an
immersive installation, and a photo series, which were created as part of the SNSF
project “Reproductive Geopolitics,” a SNSF doc.ch project, as well as another SNSF
subproject. The Dialogical Installations are accompanied by Encounters between
researchers, artists, activists, invited guests and five target audiences: (a) teenagers
and young adults aged 12 to 25; (b) health professionals; (c) politicians and
(inter)national political institutions; (d) affected groups and (e) a broader interested
public. Engaged science will be implemented through these encounters involving a
Pedagogical Program that explicitly address young people (12–25 years);
audience-specific and collaboratively designed Guided Tours through the exhibition;
six Deep Encounters, each allowing for an in-depth engagement with one particular
theme and affected group; and a Vernissage with researchers and artists, as well as a
Finissage featuring a panel discussion with politicians, experts, activists and researchers.
research, art, and different target publics into an engaged dialogue about how global
politics shape reproductive experiences across the globe. The Agora project consists of
six Dialogical Installations, each of which offers a case study on a particular aspect of
transnational reproduction in the form of interactive art installations, and a series of
Encounters on global reproduction, which are events in diverse formats designed for
specific audiences. The installations are based on the SNSF-funded research and
intensive field work. Both the Dialogical Installations and Encounters will take place at
the Kornhausforum Bern for three months in 2026, from where we will reach out to
secondary schools, reproductive health institutions, political organizations, affected
social groups and a diverse interested public. The Agora project is the result of a
collaboration between the Social and Cultural Geography Research Group, led by Prof.
Carolin Schurr, and the mLAB, which specializes in art-science collaborations, both
based at the Department of Geography at the University of Bern. In view of the current
societal debates about reproductive rights, the Agora project offers a research-based
space to advance discussions on the transnational dimension of reproductive
in/justice. It will explore the following Questions: Which individuals and social groups
can or cannot fulfill their reproductive desires? Who is encouraged to use
contraception, persuaded to use permanent contraceptive methods, or even forced to
undergo sterilization? Who has access to adoption, egg or sperm donation, surrogacy,
or other reproductive and reprogenetic technologies? How does this vary around the
world? Which transnational linkages define access to reproductive health for certain
groups? How are we, here in Switzerland, affected when people on the other side of the
globe experience reproductive injustices? In short, Global Reproduction – Intimate
Lives explores how global and national politics encourage or discourage certain groups
to reproduce and how these groups experience their reproductive journeys. Six
Dialogical Installations provide a differentiated view on different cases of reproductive
injustices around the globe through a transnational, research- and art-based
approach. Using a variety of artistic media and narrative techniques, and drawing on
ethnographic and multi-modal research methods, each Dialogical Installation provides
an in-depth insight into one scientific case study, namely: (1) asylum-seeking women’s
experiences of birth in collective asylum centers in Switzerland; (2) low-income mestizo
women’s experiences of sterilization in the aftermath of Mexico’s population control
campaigns; (3) Moroccan seasonal migrant mothers’ reproductive health challenges
during Spain’s berry harvest; (4) the experiences of surrogate workers in Russia and
Ukraine of carrying out a pregnancy for (inter)national commissioning parents; (5) Sri
Lankan parents’ experiences of relinquishing a child for adoption; and (6) women’s
experiences of donating and receiving oocytes in Spain’s fertility industry. On display
will be artistic work such as a multi-channel video installation, artistic body maps, an
immersive installation, and a photo series, which were created as part of the SNSF
project “Reproductive Geopolitics,” a SNSF doc.ch project, as well as another SNSF
subproject. The Dialogical Installations are accompanied by Encounters between
researchers, artists, activists, invited guests and five target audiences: (a) teenagers
and young adults aged 12 to 25; (b) health professionals; (c) politicians and
(inter)national political institutions; (d) affected groups and (e) a broader interested
public. Engaged science will be implemented through these encounters involving a
Pedagogical Program that explicitly address young people (12–25 years);
audience-specific and collaboratively designed Guided Tours through the exhibition;
six Deep Encounters, each allowing for an in-depth engagement with one particular
theme and affected group; and a Vernissage with researchers and artists, as well as a
Finissage featuring a panel discussion with politicians, experts, activists and researchers.
Start Date
2026-01-01
Expected Completion Date
2026-11-30
Keyword(s)
reproductive justice
•
transnational reproduction
•
exhibition
•
art-science collaboration
•
art-based methods
•
science communication