Celebration as a Mechanism for Resistance: Moselle Nita Singh

Moselle Nita Singh is an artist of Punjabi descent with a background in agroecology and biodiversity regeneration. She has a Bachelor of Arts in cultural anthropology and a Master of Science in ethnobotany. Moselle has worked at various nonprofit organizations, biodiversity initiatives, and small organic farms across the Midwest, as well as Nicaragua and India. Growing up, she often turned to the more-than-human world to foster a sense of belonging. Experiencing the effects of industrial farming catalyzed her activism, as well as her interest in the ways in which we celebrate, honor, and defend our relationship with life through grassroots organizing, seed saving, and art. In the fall of 2020, she turned towards art as her primary mode of exploration, expression, healing, and activism.

Moselle grew up in a rural area on the west side of the Mississippi River, the ancestral lands of predominantly Sauk & Meskwaki nations, which overlaps with lands of the Peoria, Sioux, and Kickapoo nations. Much of her art activism has been localized to "Iowa", which is largely Ioway, Sioux, Sauk & Meskwaki lands, and she currently lives near Lake Monona, which is predominantly Ho-Chunk territory and overlaps with Sioux, Sauk & Fox territories. 

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Visit The EcoTheatre Lab's website at ⁠ecotheatrelab.com⁠ for links to Moselle's work and how to connect with her, the transcript for this episode, and more information about the podcast, production team, and The EcoTheatre Lab.

This podcast series is all about finding ways to talk about climate change with each other. The EcoTheatre Lab wants to also be in dialogue with our listeners!  Please let us know your thoughts on this episode through this ⁠brief feedback form⁠ (tinyurl.com/artofclimatedialogue)! 

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Thank you to our podcast funders:

Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy Emerging Leader Award and North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program Graduate Student Grant.*

This podcast is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number 2021-38640-34714 through the North Central Region SARE program under project number GNC22-345. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this podcast are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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Thank you to our podcast production team:

Vivian M. Cook - Producer, Host, and Editor

Rosie Marcu-Rowe - Editor

Moselle Nita Singh - Cover Artist

Omar de Kok-Mercado - Musician

Charissa Menefee, Taylor Sklenar, and Mary Swander - Consultants