The Earth(S)eed Archive: Science Fiction Creates the Future

FAIN: GE-278262-21

Children's Museum (San Diego, CA 92101-6850)
Megan Dickerson (Project Director: September 2020 to December 2022)
Gabrielle Wyrick (Project Director: December 2022 to present)

Planning for an exhibit centered on the life, work, and impact of American science fiction writer Octavia Butler.

THE EARTH(S)EED ARCHIVE is a planned exhibit at The New Children’s Museum (San Diego) for 2023. It will be the first child-focused exhibit on the life/work of American science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006). Butler was the first Black woman to win widespread recognition in the sci-fi genre and among the first artists of any genre to include climate research in her output. The exhibit proposes that we need diverse writers, poets and other artists who can consider current climate science and help us create stories of alternative futures where our country is more fair, just and hopeful. Butler biographer Dr. Ayana Jamieson and other scholars will help the Museum plan this exhibit as follows: research Butler via her literary archive; create a rough prototype of the exhibit; invite community engagement through a writing workshop that will consider current climate research and collectively envision our world 31 years into the future; and develop exhibit implementation plans.