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Symposium: Environmental History V

All conferences and discussions

JOANA LUZ_20190605_LUMA_PERFORMANCE KILUANJI_DSF2312Joana Luz
Première édition du symposium

2022

LUMA_1920_1280_72DPI
Deuxième édition du symposium

2023

May 29–31, 2026
Environmental History V

Mythological Machines

The fifth edition of the Environmental History symposium examines the entanglements between humans and the natural world, with particular attention to the role of nonhuman actors in historical and contemporary narratives. Under the title Mythological Machines, this edition turns to myth-making as a critical framework for understanding how environmental histories are produced, transmitted, and transformed.

Mythological Machines proposes examining myth-making as an active process rather than a fixed body of inherited stories. It asks how myths are constructed, circulated, adapted, and instrumentalized across different historical and cultural contexts. It also considers how contemporary technological imaginaries, ecological discourses, and political formations generate new narratives about the future of Earth, the status of life, and the agency of human and nonhuman actors.

Rather than offering a comprehensive typology of environmental myths, the symposium focuses on their operativity. How do myths organize collective perception? How do they make certain forms of environmental action possible while limiting others? How do they translate ecological change into cultural, political, or historical meaning? How do they persist, mutate, or lose force under conditions of crisis?

260530-LUMA-HEV-ADRIANDEWEERDT-916

Photo: © Adrian Deweerdt

Talks and performances from the fifth edition

Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 16.03.58
video
The Invention of Urban Waste Sabine Barles,  Lionel Devlieger
Environmental history 5
~ 49min
Environment , Social issues , Mythological
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 15.35.28
video
Introduction to Environmental History (2026) Grégory Quenet
Environmental history 5
~ 32min
Environment , Mythological , Social issues
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 15.58.12
video
The Time of Dreams, the Time of Myths Nastassja Martin
Environmental history 5
~ 18min
Environment , Social issues , Mythological
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 15.54.41
video
Turn Off the Lights, Listen to the River Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha
Environmental history 5
~ 27min
Environment , Social issues , Mythological
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 15.51.28
video
Discussion with Nastassja Martin and Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha Nastassja Martin,  Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha
Environmental history 5
~ 48min
Environment , Mythological , Social issues
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 14.36.49
video
Water Witnesses: Mythological Infrastructures Nida Sinnokrot
Environmental history 5
~ 50min
Environment , Mythological , Social issues
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 15.26.45
video
Network imperialism: AI and technofascism Norman Ajari
Environmental history 5
~ 20min
Environment , Mythological , Social issues
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 15.22.57
video
Vectofascism Grégory Chatonsky
Environmental history 5
~ 12min
Environment , Mythological , Social issues
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 14.31.41
video
Discussion avec Norman Ajari et Grégory Chatonsky Norman Ajari,  Grégory Chatonsky
Environmental history 5
~ 25min
Environment , Mythological
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 14.25.40
video
Discussion with Verena Paravel and Vassilis Oikonomopoulos Vassilis Oikonomopoulos,  Verena Paravel
Environmental history 5
~ 35min
Environment , Mythological , Biodiversity
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 14.20.05
video
The Prehistory of Myths: When Science Traces Back the Thread of Time Julien d’Huy
Environmental history 5
~ 48min
Environment , Social issues , Mythological
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 14.16.54
video
Gaïa's Name Déborah Bucchi
Environmental history 5
~ 11min
Environment , Social issues , Mythological
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 12.19.07
video
The Thin-Skinned Earth Jeanne Etelain
Environmental history 5
~ 13min
Environment , Social issues , Mythological
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 11.41.15
video
Discussion with Déborah Bucchi and Jeanne Etelain Déborah Bucchi,  Jeanne Etelain
Environmental history 5
~ 29min
Environment , Social issues , Mythological
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 11.50.16
video
Discussion with Josèfa Ntjam and Wilfried N'Sondé Josèfa Ntjam,  Wilfried N'Sondé
Environmental history 5
~ 59min
Mythological , Social issues , Environment
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 12.11.45
video
From the Camargue to the Tunisian ‘desert’: how Westerns and science fiction shape landscapes and our imaginations Fredj Moussa,  Corentin Laplanche Tsutsui,  Vincent Giovannoni
Environmental history 5
~ 47min
Environment , Mythological , Camargue
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 12.07.56
video
Dreams of the Modern and the Divine: The Uncertain Rhythms of Living with Walnuts in Southern Kyrgyzstan Rachel Kay
Environmental history 5
~ 18min
Environment , Social issues , Mythological
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 12.03.06
video
Surreal Estates: Managing Risk and Investment in the Malay(si)an Extraction Zone Alfonse Chiu
Environmental history 5
~ 20min
Environment , Social issues , Mythological
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 11.46.17
video
Discussion with Rachel Kay and Alfonse Chiu Rachel Kay,  Alfonse Chiu
Environmental history 5
~ 19min
Mythological , Social issues , Environment
Capture d’écran 2026-06-04 à 11.54.10
video
Poetry reading "All We Have Been Gifted Must Be Given Back" brother portrait
Environmental history 5
~ 28min
Environment , Mythological , Literature

Talks and performances from the fifth edition

Bringing together researchers, artists, and thinkers, the symposium places myth-making at the center of environmental history. It approaches myth as a material and conceptual force that participates in the formation of worlds, histories, and futures.

Norman Ajari

Philosopher

Sabine Barles

Professor of urban planning and development

Déborah Bucchi

Associate professor of theater history and aesthetics

Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha

Artist

Grégory Chatonsky

Artist

Alfonse Chiu

Architectural historian, designer, and curator

Lionel Devlieger

Architectural engineer and historian

Jeanne Etelain

Philosopher and a professor at the Montpellier School of Fine Arts

Vincent Giovannoni

Chief curator

Rachel Kay

PhD candidate in social anthropology

Corentin Laplanche Tsutsui

Wilfried N'Sondé

Writer, playwright, and musician

Josèfa Ntjam

Artist

Christelle Oyiri

Artist, journalist, and producer/DJ

Verena Paravel

Anthropologist and filmmaker

brother portrait

Artist & writer

Grégory Quenet

Professor of Environmental History University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

Explore talks from previous editions

JOANA LUZ_20190605_LUMA_PERFORMANCE KILUANJI_DSF2312Joana Luz
Environmental History I

2022

LUMA_1920_1280_72DPI
Environmental History II

2023

A3_300DPI3
Environmental History III

2024

EH_2025_1920_1280
Environmental History IV

2025

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