Thursday, October 22, 2026, 12 – 1 pm

Conversation: Thinking with Ecology: Lucia Pietroiusti and Olivia Whetung

Online

 
 
The environment is often approached as an external issue to address. But what does it mean to focus on human relations with our more-than-human neighbours? This conversation engages with ecological thinking and how it is shaping artworks, institutional systems, and possible futures.

Curator, programmer, and strategist Lucia Pietroiusti (based in London and the Netherlands) stewards research and experimentation at the intersection of art, ecology, and systems. Pietroiusti is Head of Research & Emergence at the Hartwig Museum, Amsterdam, opening in 2028, with a particular focus on lead-in programming, R&D, and the ecosystemic aspects of the future institution. Pietroiusti was previously Head of Ecologies at Serpentine, London, and was the curator of the Golden Lion-winning opera-performance, Sun & Sea, presented at the Lithuanian Pavilion during the 58th Venice Biennale.

Artist Olivia Whetung is a member of Curve Lake First Nation. Whetung is from the area now called the Kawarthas and presently resides on Chemong Lake, Ontario. Whetung received her MFA from the University of British Columbia in 2016. She works in various media, including beadwork, printmaking, sculptural installation, and digital media. Her recent solo exhibition, inawendiwok, which loosely translates from Anishinaabemowin as “they are related to each other,” focused on land, food, the ecology of her home territory, and human interactions with “our more-than-human neighbours.”

Clara Halpern, assistant curator, exhibitions, will moderate.