Non-human animals are exploited across all areas of life, including food production, medicine, and entertainment. Currently, animal agriculture accounts for over 75% of all arable land on Earth and is one of the leading causes of deforestation, while over 90% of livestock are raised in intensive industrial-scale production units, confined to small spaces and cages often without ever seeing the light of day. At the same time, wild animals face extinction and perish in vast numbers in wildfires and as casualties of overfishing, hunting and habitat loss. In short, the use and abuse of non-human animals is one of the most important issues of our time. Yet the ethical problems emerging from these exploitative systems remain largely invisible to the wider public.<\/p>\n
Organised in conversation with the exhibition Why Look at Animals? A Case for the Rights of Non-Human Lives<\/em><\/a>, this symposium addresses key questions concerning the role of non-human animals in contemporary society. These include how legal frameworks enable the exploitation of animals, how violence against animals is connected to violence against humans, and how unregulated animal labour produces value in capitalism. The symposium’s speakers propose ways to create fairer legal frameworks and forms of governance, and discuss strategies for multispecies justice.<\/p>\n Speakers include: Rimona Afana, Charlotte Blattner, Katerina Gregos, Terike Haapoja, Tiziana Pers and Richard Twine. Remote contributors include Jo-Anne McArthur, Shay Salehi, Syl Ko and Dinesh Wadiwel. The moderators are Federica Timeto, Gizem Haspolat and Pablo P. Castello.<\/p>\n The Symposium is curated by Terike Haapoja and stems from her long-term research on capitalism\u2019s reliance on animal exploitation and animalisation, which she has termed \u201cAnimal Capitalism\u201d. Haapoja is a Berlin-based interdisciplinary artist. Her work focuses on animal rights and the potential for harmonious co-existence between species. She is one of the participating artists in Why Look at Animals? A Case for the Rights of Non-Human Animals<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Symposium will also include a presentation of David Brooks\u2019 book, Coralographies: the 7,500-year-old Coral Animalesque<\/em>, in collaboration with the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation<\/a>, as well as the work of the NGO A PROMISE TO ANIMALS<\/a> in advancing animal protection and rights.<\/p>\n