– Haunt: Chanelle Adams

A conversation between artist LUIZA PRADO DE O. MARTINS and writer, historian, researcher and artist, CHANELLE ADAMS. Departing from questions about the lifecycle and duration of a work of art, Prado invites Adams into a discussion about her work exploring how colonialism created institutions and the lasting impact this has had. In solidarity both practices explore the liberatory histories of plants, seeking to address and unpack ideas of preservation, (bio)power, control and colonialism. In this invigorating interview Prado and Adams’ cover a range of conversation topics that explore the depoliticisation of climate change and the concept of “hauntology” in museum and institutional contexts. They discuss how artefacts held by colonial institutions “haunt” contemporary museological practice and scholarship, examine the sacred values of absence and silence, and offer a framework for interacting with the presences that remain in the museum through Adams’ notion of the “right to rest”.  

The conversation is part of Prado’s Anti-Offsetting Primer, a co-created resource and decolonial investigation exploring alternative ways of doing art. The Primer touches upon various themes such as the climate emergency and restitution, ecocide and displacement, and the anticapitalist poetics of home.