Love in a Mist: The Politics of Fertility is a research, design, and curatorial project. It was first exhibited at The Druker Design Gallery at Harvard University Graduate School of Design from October 28 through December 20, 2019. The exhibition then traveled to Bureau Europa in The Netherland and was on display from February 14 to August 8, 2021.
Love in a Mist: The Politics of Fertility explores several evolving narratives on the spaces and politics of fertility, triggered by the “heartbeat bill,” which recently passed into law in states such as Mississippi, Kentucky, and Georgia to criminalize abortions from as early as six weeks into pregnancy.
The exhibition explores society’s quest to control women and nature, and the resulting environmental degradation. It brings together issues such as the historical use of synthetic hormones in women’s bodies; measures to super-size farm animals and domesticate plants; and techniques to accelerate fertility and extract natural resources.
From the treatment of women’s bodies to the exploitative human relationship with nature, Love in a Mist examines spaces of fertility including abortion clinics, artificial wombs, court rooms, farmed landscapes, and swamps, as extrapolated from diverse accounts and imaginaries by scholars, activists, legislators, ecologists, biologists, artists, and designers.
*Love in a Mist or Nigella sativa is a purple flower with black seeds. The seeds are known for their diverse health benefits for the heart, brain, and liver. It is also said that in ancient times they were used to help regulate fertility or induce contraction of the womb and abortions.
✿✿✿ For information about the exhibition’s content and traveling exhibition requests, don’t hesitate to contact us at info[at]seamlessterritory.org ✿✿✿