Air is Kin
This project uses non-western knowledge to compare air to ‘kin,’ reimagining it as a relative—a complex system of living organisms whose health is interconnected with ours.
The Centric Lab understands health as ecological, meaning that it is impacted by our body’s interactions with the environments in which we live. Air is Kin centres the voices of clean air advocates demanding the abolition of ‘sacrifice zones’ such as the area around Heathrow Airport, where ‘right to pollute’ legislation prioritises economic interests over community health.
A touchscreen interface centers on audio declarations delivered by five activists speaking out against decades of exposure to harmful pollutants in their communities. Giving their declarations are Nabil Al-Kinani, Stuart Bennet, Angela Fonso, Emily Parker and Love Ssega. An accompanying poem by Thabo Mkwananzi challenges us to reimagine our relationship to Air as comparable to the blood in our veins.
An essay commissioned by The Centric Lab, What is Air?, explores what makes ‘healthy air’.
BSL interpretation for this work is available via this link.
The Centric Lab is a research organisation that focuses on understanding how environmental factors affect people’s health, especially in communities that face social and economic challenges. They use scientific data to highlight how pollution and other environmental issues can lead to health problems. Their goal is to support movements for health justice by providing insights and tools that help communities advocate for healthier living conditions.
They are prototyping ways to use health-based scientific evidence to support justice movements, surface and socialise non-Western epistemologies and create language to articulate the health injustices felt by many racialised and marginalised communities. Centric Lab's ongoing goal is to support organisers, grassroots groups, and justice-led organisations to facilitate a health justice practice within and for their communities, and to steward a radical infrastructure for communal healing.