Photo of living history museum cotton plantation, Maarten Vanden Eynde, Mississippi, US, 2016

"Without its Eurocentric distortions, decolonization would be at the center of the narrative we tell about the twentieth century - and this retelling would allow us to see that global capitalism today is most fundamentally shaped by the struggle for independence." from 'Empire of Cotton, A Global History' by Sven Beckert. 

The 'LUNÄ Talk: Triangular Trade - Cotton' will concentrate on the influence of cotton production and trade in relation to the abolition of slavery and colonisation / decolonisation, both historically and as an ongoing influence on contemporary global economy.

Invited contributors:  Helen Elands (art historian, independent researcher, London, UK), Wouter Elsen (Independent video- and photojournalist, co-creator of The Cotton Connection documentary, Ouagadougou, BE / BF), Dr. Patricia Fara (Historian, Eighteenth-century natural philosophy and cultural history of science, University of Cambridge, UK), Remy Jungerman (Artist, based in Amsterdam, SR / NL), Karin Lurvink (Post-doc researcher on the economic impact (direct and indirect, immediate and long-term) of 18th & 19th-century Dutch Republic transatlantic slave-based activities, University of Amsterdam, NL), Prof. Dr. Eric Vanhaute (Professor Economic and Social History and World History, Ghent University, BE), Maarten Vanden Eynde (artist and initiator of ‘Triangular Trade’) and Marjolijn Dijkman (artist and initiator of LUNÄ Talks).

The overall project Triangular Trade investigates the influence of transport and trade of pivotal materials (like rubber, oil, ivory, copper, cotton, gold and uranium), but also people, on exponential economic growth, the creation of nations and other power structures. The project traces back the origin of the different materials and follows their (r)evolutionary path as they are processed and transformed into 'world changing wonders'.

LUNÄ references the legacy of the Lunar Society of Birmingham - a group of enthusiasts and lay scholars who met on full moon nights to discover and discuss new ideas. The ‘Lunaticks’ as they were called, transformed science and changed the world. They built theories and engines, invented machines and ideas. They altered the face of their time. Three centuries later, we invite you to revisit this spirit by taking your place at a platform that replicates the table on which the original Lunar Men met. Each conversation, mostly in sync with the full moon, will feature a high tide of ideas, concepts and questions, instigating concordances between what is current and exciting in science, philosophy and the social imagination. LUNÄ Talks are intimate, face-to-face, power-point-less environments with free flowing engaging conversations between invited specialised guests in the discussed fields and the audience.