hevea act 6: an elastic continuum, by bethan hughes

An Elastic Continuum is an artistic research project by Bethan Hughes that constitutes the sixth chapter of the Hevea series, which she has been developing since 2020. This installation tells the story of the Russian dandelion – a plant that contains rubber – from the perspective of the women who work in its cultivation, processing and exploitation. Bethan Hughes traces the journey of this humble “weed” from the Tien Shan mountains in Kazakhstan, through the collectivised farms of the Soviet Union, the greenhouses of Auschwitz and the laboratories of tyre multinationals in Europe. The installation revolves around a video – constructed from fragments of archive films and contemporary images – but extends beyond the screen in the form of a series of glass, rubber and steel sculptures, which act as instruments through which the sound of Diego Flórez, the artist with whom Bethan Hughes is collaborating on this project, resonates.
Bethan Hughes is an artist and researcher from Wigan, UK. Her work as an artist has been presented in solo exhibitions, particularly in Berlin – at Centrum Berlin and HAUNT/frontviews – as well as in the group exhibition Mutual Matters: Goldrausch 2021, at the Haubrok Foundation. Between 2019-20, she received a grant from Braunschweig Projects and, in 2021, a research grant in Fine Arts from the City of Berlin.

exhibition part of the index 2024 – art and technology biennial programme

european media art platform is a project co-funded by the european union

support portuguese republic – culture / directorate-general for the arts. rtcp – network of portuguese theatres and cinemas