Becoming bat ambassador
In autumn 2023, I was appointed ambassador of the brown long-eared bat by the Embassy of the Species Copenhagen which like all other species embassies is a volunteer-driven community focusing on the rights of species through citizen involvement in local nature fights and creative workshops. For my appointment, I made an initiation ritual and wrote my obligations as an ambassador where I signed my lifelong dedication and service to the bats.
Why the bats?
My artistic work with bats is motivated by fascination and a desire to contribute to raising awareness about other species and their lives and value. Bats are nocturnal and therefore overlooked when it comes to nature conservation and consideration. There is so much that most people do not know about them. Their excrement fertilizes the soil and they reduce insect density. Their sensory system is radically different from ours, and they have revolutionary potential because of this. I investigate what it is like to be in the world as a bat, to experience the world from the night sky through the echoes of their own screams and to be the only mammal on the entire planet that can fly. In my practice, I work with beauty and sensuality in the transmission of knowledge. Art can supplement factual knowledge about the climate and biodiversity crises with emotional, bodily and aesthetic knowledge, which can hopefully give us better opportunities to act on these crises.
CopenhAustin residency
My work as a bat ambassador kickstarted when I had the opportunity to be an artist-in-residency in Austin, Texas through Warehouse9’s and MoHA’s UnlistedProjects residency program that focuses on performing arts, community and sustainability.
During my month-long residency, I hosted a public performance ritual that incorporated collaborations with Austin artists Sir Beau Elliot and Andie Flores, collaborated on a “Becoming Species” riso-graph print with artist Laura M. Cañas P., led multiple mask making workshops as well as guided meditations exploring variations of screams and flying as part of Fusebox Festival, and actively volunteered and organized with the Austin Bat Refuge.
Selected videos and photos from the residency here.
Workshops: The Land of Many Bats
Together with Warehouse9, I offered five different activities which explore the sensuousness and philosophy of the mysterious bat species. We learned about the bats through a walk around Damhussøen where we saw the bats at dusk, a bat meditation where we imagined becoming bat, a bat print workshop where we upcycled our old clothes and bags with a bat print, a bat scream workshop where we explored the different bat screams and made new bat canons, a bat calligraphy workshop where we painted the spectograms of bat screams on old and new maps while I shared information about the different bats and their screams.
I love offering these workshops so please contact me if you are interested in hearing more! Read more about the workshops:
Bat scream
Bat calligraphy
Speech from bat perspective
I did an opening speech from the perspective of the brown long-eared bat to Extinction Rebellion’s climate action Befri Jorden in 2023 in Copenhagen. The speech is selected as a historical speech and archived here: https://www.dansketaler.dk/tale/linh-les-abningstale-tale-til-demonstrationen-befri-jorden
Linh Le 