KINNOMICS

KINNOMICS
IMAN DATOO
THU 2 JUL / 6 - 8 PM

The first in a new series of monthly talks

“kinnomics”, shifting our thinking from an economics of commodification toward methods of making kin across interconnected ecological worlds.

Iman Datoo investigates the world-making capacities of plants, soils, and people—how we move, how we behave and how we make place. 

The evening will begin with a short creative exercise involving a potato. Iman will then talk about two of her recent projects: Kinnomic Botany and A Map of Southcoombe Gardens. After the break, we will gather in small groups for informal discussions around the evening’s themes.

What to expect in the 2-hour session:

• A warm and inclusive welcome
• Important topics discussed accessibly
• Facilitated small group discussions after the talk
• Meeting new people and discovering new art and artists
  

photo: Radical Ecology

IMAN DATOO
imandatoo.com
@imandatoo

Iman Datoo is an artist and researcher based in Falmouth. She is currently undertaking an LAHP funded practice-led PhD at UCL’s Slade School of Fine Art, and is Head of Research and Community at Radical Ecology. 

At the centre of Iman’s work is “kinnomics”, a transitional framework that shifts thinking away from an economics of commodification toward making kin with those rendered inert, inanimate, or marginal - whether pathologised soils in mines, invasive species in plantations, colonised specimens in botanical gardens, or artefacts held in museum collections. Through this lens, she invites an understanding of worlds as relative to one another, and foregrounds an intimate planetary existence in which the human is never at the centre but always embroiled in relation.

In 2025, she was the Stonecroft Art in Residence with Agnes Etherington Arts Centre and Queen’s University Biological Field Station in Ontario, Canada, and a recipient of the Two Together Residency with Porthmeor Studios and the Freelands Foundation. Her debut solo exhibition Kinnomics opened at the Agnes Etherington Arts Centre in 2025. Recent works include A 100 Year Care Plan (2025), Movement is Natural (2024), A Map of Southcombe Gardens (2024), Kinnomic Botany (2023) and Soil brain-Gut brain (2023)

photo: Fern Leigh Albert

This is the first in new series of talks exploring the work of artists of diverse heritage

Navigating an expanded art history through artist talks, guest speakers and special events, the monthly sessions will centre the work of artists from the global majority.

Rooted in Cornwall, the series explores the diversity of art and artists both locally and globally, introducing participants to wider contexts of decolonisation, restorative and anti-racist practices.

The series was originally developed with funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund through a pilot project in collaboration with Black Voices Cornwall and Maria Christoforidou. The new series is part-funded by The National Lottery Community Fund. Their support means we can offer low-cost tickets to make the event accessible to more people.

Cost:
£3 - low spare income
£5 - help cover the cost of the session
£7 - help fund the series

Please pay what you can. We hope that offering a sliding scale enables more people to join.
Teas, soft drinks and biscuits provided.

MARIA CHRISTOFORIDOU
(new date of talk to be confirmed)

Unfortunately Maria Christoforidou’s talk on 25th June has had to be postponed. We look forward to being able to present Maria’s talk later in the series.

Maria Christoforidou is a Zambian Greek artist, writer, and researcher. Maria moved to Cornwall in the last millennium to study Fine Art and is now tied to the sea. Maria, inspired by collaboration, uses different formats – text, video, photography, sound, performances and workshops – to explore similarities and the current possibilities for connection between plants, humans and other animals. Questioning in various archives how words and images shape our worldview, Maria likes to listen to the body and make up stories about what could have been to discover how things can be. Maria is a Fine Art lecturer at Falmouth University.

Feedback from the pilot session, Tearing up the Maps, in June 2024, with Maria Christoforidou:
I think that talk was literally life changing for me. My head was brimming.
I think discussion was a great way to share conversation with people I both knew and were meeting for the first time.
I absolutely loved it! It touched on lots of areas of my personal interest (decolonisation, land, memory, and drew really amazing & rich connections between them.
Joyous, intelligent, spaciously delivered with room for thought & curiosity for listeners.
I found the content valuable, inspiring and inviting to further exploration.

These sessions are part-funded by the National Lottery Community Fund who awarded Art Centre Penryn £19,941 towards their community activities for 12 months. With thanks to National Lottery players for making this possible.

About the venue

Art Centre Penryn is a creative space in the making, we’re transforming a heritage building into a centre for contemporary art. Tearing up the Maps will take place in the Art Room, on the ground floor of the School Room building, behind the former chapel. Please note that the school room has a stepped entrance, we apologise that it is not currently wheelchair accessible. 

artcentrepenryn.org

The art room at Art Centre Penryn

REFUND/EXCHANGE POLICY

We are small, non-profit organisations and our courses and events form a really important part of our income, we are therefore not able to offer refunds within 30 days of the course/event date. We offer the following refund/exchange options:

If it is more than 30 days from the course/event start date, we can offer a full refund, less the booking fee. Within 30 days days from the course/event start date, we cannot offer a refund, but we could transfer you to another course, or offer a voucher for you to use to book another course. Alternatively, you could send someone else in your place, please just email us to let us know.

We're sorry, but we are unable to offer a last minute exchange within 24 hrs, or after the course/event, unless in exceptional circumstances.

Thanks for your understanding.