The Word for World is Forest

<p><em>The Word for World is Forest</em> proposes a future that values conscious symbiosis. It invites the audience to envision an existence of mutual respect, care, and survival. Artists Sofía Córdova, Beatriz Cortez, Candice Lin, Allison Smith, and Patrick Staff provide lenses for viewing time as malleable and circular—constructing a world where the future is, in fact, possible and within reach. This exhibition takes its name from Ursula K. Le Guin’s novella <em>The Word for World is Forest</em>. In the 1972 work, Le Guin imagines a future scenario where humans have created a colony on another planet to exploit the native population and strip the land of its resources, as they have done in reality many times over on this planet. The native community, called the Athsheans, live in peace and harmony with their surroundings. Athsheans see all beings as interconnected: In their language, the word for “world” and “forest” is the same…</p>