Artist, Researcher, Research Supervisor, Doctoral College, University for the Creative Arts, UK
[Workshop dates: May 19th & July 19th 2023]
It’s a fascinating creative opportunity being one of the 12 artists involved in the scientific and artistic aspects of the Ancestry Traveller workshops produced by the i3S team and Luisa Pereira, a Population Geneticist and the group leader on Genetic Diversity at the University of Porto.
I’ve always been fascinated by genetics, and recent breakthroughs show how DNA can be read like a genetic history book. The drawing-based project centres on Genetics and Identity and is designed around reflection on individual DNA ancestry reports in a way that integrates genetics, history and culture in exploring human diversity and the journey of mankind across the globe. Locked within our DNA is a genetic route map revealing how our ancestors migrated out of Africa and went on to populate the rest of the world. The artistic project represents the summation of an interdisciplinary and multi-institutional genetics series of projects under the title of Ancestry Traveller – Human Diversity along the Magellan Circumnavigation Space: Genetics, History and Culture. DNA studies allow us to follow in the footsteps of modern humans, tracing our shared ancestral roots. By addressing questions of race, identity, colonisation, and ethics surrounding genetic data, the project encourages critical reflection on the implications of population studies. Reflection through art via interdisciplinary projects such as these play a crucial role in fostering a deeper understanding of ourselves and our place in the world.
Luísa Pereira with artist participants from the Ancestry Test Workshop May 19th 2023
The project has profoundly impacted my artistic research by offering new perspectives into the interconnectedness of our genetic heritage and the narratives of humanity’s past. My conceptual focus is leaning towards the maternal DNA lineage and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is particularly interesting. MtDNA is inherited only from the mother, providing a direct line of ancestry through the maternal line. I am fascinated by the realisation that mtDNA might lead to unique and intriguing perspectives, emphasizing the significance of the mtDNA genetic component in shaping who I am. The workshops have recently led to intriguing, individualised genetic reports and the project’s scientific and artistic foundations have offered space for rare reflection on patterns of ancient DNA human lineages and how they live on in the cells of our bodies like mosaics, allowing us to unlock the secrets of where we came from. I am currently drawn towards the concept of Morphic Fields proposed by biologist Rupert Sheldrake which I believe adds a further layer of philosophical exploration. The idea that living organisms inherit traits from formative causal connections across space-time can potentially provide an alternative way to understand memory and our shared past. Reading science authors such as Simon Conway Morris, Chris Stringer, Adam Rutherford, and others, has led me to a fascination with paleoarchaeology and the morphologies of ancient hominids. The past feels more resonant, particularly via the indeterminacy of our inherited past lives and my maternal side as tied to mtDNA. The global synthesis of human DNA, biotechnology, gene editing and AI, climate change and migration patterns have shifted our sense of humanity and our place in the universe.
Homo Erectus, reconstructed for The British Museum, UK
Luisa and the I3S team have taken care to foster critical and historical reflections on issues of race, colonisation, politics, and ethics. For our part, like actors in a Samual Becket production, swishing spit around our mouths and cheeks, dribbling watery bubbling sticky quantities into prepared test tube kits felt simultaneously ritualistic, comical and profound, echoing the familiar theatricality and forensic apprehension from Covid testings. Random ecological events present organic matter within a fossil record, a tooth in a layer of soil, a finger bone in a cave, footprints along a clifftop path, a polishing stone, and a stone axe that bring the past vividly to life.
Our reports provided evidence of Ancestrality, Human Diversity Projection, Genetic GPS, Neanderthal Mix and Maternal Lineage. Polyphonic storytelling, new writing, music and the visual arts and making even more remarkable and fascinating connections between genetics, culture, and the human experience are unravelling as we share and discover more of our history over the coming months.
