In her work, Olivia D’Cruz explores connections between people and between human existence and the natural world. How do we deal with the earth, with its raw materials and ecosystems? And how does this relate to a colonial past? Fe203: A DREAM is part of a series of three works, each translating a position within a court case: the groundwater poisoned by mining as plaintiff; the farmer on whose land an iron ore mine has been built (the artist’s uncle) as defendant; and an activist who has retired as a prosecutor. In this third film, which is presented at Syb, the retired activist talks about the problems in her habitat in South Goa. Iron ore mining results in the drying up of water springs and the local government favours quick money over preserving ancient ecosystems. In a dream, the activist finds herself in the mining pit where she meets a younger generation in the form of three figures who break bad news. The result is a work about the dichotomy of wanting to pursue your ideals, while being part of, benefiting from, or being dependent on a system of exploitation. This series was originally conceived for Noorderlicht Gallery in Groningen, a region where a similar conflicting relationship exists between the extraction of raw material (gas in this case), profiting companies and inhabitants who experience the effects of it in their day-to-day life.
Olivia D’Cruz (1996) is a Groningen-based artist and filmmaker from Goa, India. She graduated in Illustration and Animation at Academy Minerva in 2020. Inspired by ecofeminism and the environmental humanities, her work focuses on gathering stories from the more-than-human world. She is interested in the structures that make encounters between landscapes, humans, and other animals possible or impossible. In 2020, she was awarded the Academy Minerva Research Prize for her graduation film. In 2022, D’Cruz exhibited her long-term project about resource extraction at Noorderlicht in Groningen. She regularly develops art workshops for children and places great importance on collaboration and intergenerational relationships within her artistic practice.
