Field Hospital: Unearthing Study Group

On Thursday, 29 May 2025, from 18:30 to 20:30, the Delfina Foundation in London will host the inaugural gathering of the Field Hospital project. This event invites participants to explore how we can collectively unearth the ghosts of degraded landscapes and consider what it means to feed a place back to life.

Join us for the first public event of Field Hospital, a long-term transdisciplinary project that acts as a nursery for land restoration in zones of slow disaster — a term used by artist Andrew Merritt to describe formerly biodiverse landscapes that have undergone deep ecological and cultural degradation over centuries. From industrial agriculture and colonial extraction to water scarcity and climate crisis, these processes reduce land to ghosts of their former selves. Field Hospital responds to these conditions by bridging the deep past with the near future, using tools of collective learning and care.

The project began during Merritt’s residency in Delfina Foundation’s The Politics of Food programme in 2022, where he met fellow Delfina residents Emilio Hernández Martínez and Maya Marshak, along with curator and producer Carolina Lio. Together, they are developing the project across multiple sites, beginning with the Fens in Cambridgeshire (UK) and rural territories in Oaxaca (Mexico).

This gathering marks the first public moment of the project. The evening will centre on the concept of slow disasters and explore how food — as metaphor, material, and method — can help us understand and begin to heal damaged landscapes.

The evening will feature contributions from core Field Hospital team members and archaeologist Dr Nik Petek-Sargeant from the University of Cambridge.

Reserve your place

Field Hospital is a project initiated by Andrew Merritt and produced/curated by Looking Forward. The initial implementations of the project are realised in partnership with the University of Cambridge (UK), The Sustainability Institute (SA) and Cocina Colaboratorio at UNAM National Autonomous University of Mexico, with the support of Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo and Gaia Art Foundation.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Andrew Merritt is an artist and co-founder of Something & Son, a collaborative practice that creates socially and environmentally engaged projects across art, architecture, and design. His work often takes the form of functional sculptures, community infrastructures, and speculative systems that reimagine relationships between people and the planet. Past projects have been commissioned by Tate, V&A, and the Gwangju Biennale, among others. Andrew is the initiator of Field Hospital, building on his residency at Delfina Foundation in 2022.

Emilio Hernández Martínez is a social designer and researcher based in Oaxaca, Mexico. His practice explores the intersection of radical pedagogy, communal learning, and food justice. He is a member of Cocina Colaboratorio, a collective of artists, scientists, and cooks working on agroecological restoration in Zapotec territories. Emilio leads the Mexico site of Field Hospital.

Carolina Lio is a curator and researcher based in London. She is the founding director of Looking Forward, a curatorial office working at the intersection of art, design, and social justice, and curator at Visible (Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto). Her work centres on participatory practices, sustainability, and accessible curating. She is part of the core team developing the Field Hospital framework.

Dr Maya Marshak (presenting through prerecorded video) is an artist and environmental researcher based in Cape Town. Her work weaves together agroecology, memory, and food systems, often addressing ecological grief and land dispossession in South Africa. She leads the South African strand of Field Hospital and holds postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Cape Town.

Dr Nik Petek-Sargeant (presenting through prerecorded video) is an archaeologist, historical ecologist, and ethnographer based at the Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge. His research focuses on long-term human-environment relationships and how they shape both landscapes and cultural identities. He has worked extensively with agro-pastoral communities in the East African Rift Valley and is currently investigating how archaeology can inform sustainable farming practices in the Fens.

Doors will open at 18:15. There will be a free bar with snacks and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The event will take place in Delfina Foundation’s dining room with chairs available for all attendees. The chairs are wooden with back support but no armrests. The session begins at 18:30 with a short introduction to Field Hospital, followed by a one-hour exploration of the concept of slow disasters and how food might serve as a tool for landscape repair. An excerpt from a reading will be shared on the day (and circulated in advance for those who wish to prepare), followed by an open group discussion. The event will conclude at 20:30. Audio may be recorded for internal documentation and future podcast use (with participants’ consent).