This is an invitation to imagine together how digital and physical clouds are interlinked in water cycles and how cities can be reimagined. Towards a collaborative artwork with and in solidarity with the communities of Salinas Grandes and Laguna de Guayatayoc, Jujuy, Argentina, that are struggling against lithium extraction on their ancestral lands.

Using a new economic model called Partial Common Ownership (PCO), each artwork will not be traditionally owned by anyone, but will instead be passed into a unique form of collective stewardship, in which the works’ temporary caretakers will serve the communities’ ongoing efforts to maintain their ecosystem.

We welcome you to draw upon the ocean of air and interpret a cloud’s multitudinal relations.

In the US and EU, less than 1% of lithium batteries are recycled. 80% of the "technological waste" generated in the Global North is sent to countries in the Global South.

“To sustain this rapacity is that Jujuy's constitution ignores the territorial rights of communities that have lived there for more than 5000 years, incomparable compared to the 200 that the nation state could argue. To the question about whether there is a possibility for a sovereign policy, the mobilisation maintains that there is none under these conditions. In Jujuy they fight for what the whole country should fight for, which is why it is a political act, possibly the first anti-colonial national liberation war of the 21st century”, as Melisa Argentoo and Bruno Fornillo write.

Graciela Speranza shares: "In the discourse of politics, economics and sometimes even in that of science, a crass realism reigns, incapable of imagining the future. But it is precisely in art that this impoverished notion of realism is least at home. Art reveals the limits of imagination and makes realistic fantasies that at first sight are impracticable: flying without fossil fuels, as in the flight that Tomás Saraceno and Aerocene made possible in Salinas Grandes."

A happy jellyfish, a floating cat, a fish with feet, a wide-eyed whale, monster-esque scrawls, digital ghosts... What do you see in the clouds…? What webs of life are contained in their waters?

This is an invitation to imagine together how digital and physical clouds are interlinked in water cycles and how cities can be reimagined. Towards a collaborative artwork with and in solidarity with the communities of Salinas Grandes and Laguna de Guayatayoc, Jujuy, Argentina, that are struggling against lithium extraction on their ancestral lands.

Using a new economic model called Partial Common Ownership (PCO), each artwork will not be traditionally owned by anyone, but will instead be passed into a unique form of collective stewardship, in which the works’ temporary caretakers will serve the communities’ ongoing efforts to maintain their ecosystem.

We welcome you to draw upon the ocean of air and interpret a cloud’s multitudinal relations.

(1) Argentina holds 20.55% of the world’s lithium reserves. 65% of global reserves is concentrated between the so-called Lithium Triangle, made up by Bolivia, Chile and Argentina (2) Map showing lithium extraction projects in Argentina, depicting their different stages of development (3) Relationships between the main shareholder funds of the two companies producing lithium in Argentina.

Source: Sibilia, M. V., & Litvinoff, E. (2023). Lithium and transparency in Argentina: Contributions from the EITI standard to 2 projects extracting lithium in Argentina. FUNDEPS and Red RUIDO. Retrieved from: https://fundeps.org/litio-y-transparencia-en-argentina/

The situation in Jujuy continues to escalate. The 3rd Malón de la Paz (Peace March) arrived in Buenos Aires on the day of Pachamama, August 1st, 2023, after travelling 1,875 km from Jujuy, in defence of land, water and life. Many protesters chained themselves in front of the court and a hunger strike started in brave resistance to the repressive constitutional reforms that threaten their livelihoods and future.

“To sustain this rapacity is that Jujuy's constitution ignores the territorial rights of communities that have lived there for more than 5000 years, incomparable compared to the 200 that the nation state could argue. To the question about whether there is a possibility for a sovereign policy, the mobilisation maintains that there is none under these conditions. In Jujuy they fight for what the whole country should fight for, which is why it is a political act, possibly the first anti-colonial national liberation war of the 21st century”, as Melisa Argentoo and Bruno Fornillo write.