Join us for an exciting program of activities, as we celebrate AELA’s 2026 Earth Arts Program: ‘Kinship’.
Kinship 2026 is an invitation for all creatives to celebrate, create works and events, and learn more about our deep interconnection and entanglement with all of life on earth.
We’ll be hosting creative conversations, arts workshops and other events in the lead up to – and during! – ‘Earth Arts Week’ from 16-20 November 2026.
Learn more about AELA’s Earth Arts program here
Learn about the Earth Arts Collective here
Questions? Please email us anytime – [email protected]
WHY KINSHIP?
Human beings are just one member of the wider Earth community, and we are all connected and interdependent with all other species and ecosystems. ‘Kinship’ invites us to reflect, celebrate and be inspired by the creative, cultural, bioregional, spiritual and practical ways that humans relate to, and are part of, nature. ‘Kinship’ aims to enable us to enrich our understanding of what it means to be part of the Earth community.
Our 2026 Kinship Earth Arts Program will see AELA host arts projects, workshops, creative exhibitions, writing programs and more – to stimulate reflection, conversations and cultural shifts that acknowledge the wonder, beauty and our reliance on, the more-than-human world.
How you can join ‘Kinship 2026’
* Invitation to Participate *
If you’re interested in being part of Kinship 2026, there are a number of ways to participate:
- Earth Arts Virtual Gallery – showcase your work to the Earth Arts community and beyond;
- Nature Writing Scholarship – (details available soon!);
- Earthwords and Artling Anthology – submit your poetry, essays, artworks, photography and more;
- Kinship Webinars – let us know if you, or your contacts, would like to join an Earth Arts webinar this year, to discuss and promote creative responses to the Kinship theme; and/or
- Host in-person activities during Earth Arts Week (16-20 November 2026)
Please read BELOW for more details about each way to participate, and then fill out our Expression of Interest Form, to submit your ideas.
1. Earth Arts Virtual Gallery
In 2026, AELA will be promoting the work of Earth Artists and creatives, via our Virtual Gallery. The Kinship Virtual Gallery will showcase selected works by program participants, on this website – AELA’s Earth Arts. Your artwork can be submitted anytime before 1 October 2026. Accepted works will be uploaded to the gallery within a week of being received, and will be promoted throughout the year, and especially during Earth Arts Week (16-20 November).
To see previous AELA Earth Arts Virtual Galleries, please visit this webpage.
To submit your artworks for inclusion in the Kinship Virtual Gallery, please fill out the Expression of Interest form here.
You’ll be able to view the ‘Kinship’ Virtual Gallery soon!
2. Nature Writing Scholarship
AELA will be announcing a process to apply for a Nature Writing Scholarship very soon. Please sign up to our mailing list to stay informed!
3. Earthwords & Artlings Anthology #3
AELA’s Earthwords & Artlings Anthology, Volume 3, is now inviting submissions under the theme of “Kinship”. Submissions will be accepted up to and including 1 October 2026. Accepted submissions will be published in a free, online volume, which will be launched in Earth Arts Week, 16-20 November 2026.
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
AELA’s Kinship program is inviting previously unpublished works, that explore the theme of ‘Kinship’.
We will accept:
- poetry (1-2 pages maximum)
- short story (1500 words maximum)
- flash fiction (300-500 words)
- personal and lyric essay (1,000 words maximum)
- photography (no larger than a 2 page A4 spread, high definition images)
- illustration or graphic design (no larger than a 2 page A4 spread, high definition images)
All work needs to be original (previously unpublished), and should creatively engage with ideas of kinship.
Visit AELA’s Earthwords & Artlings Anthology 1 & 2 here.
Submit your creative writing, poetry, photography or images of other art works via our EOI (Expression of Interest) form here. Please submit your work by 1 October 2026. The Anthology will be published online in mid November, and will be promoted widely throughout November and during Earth Arts Week.
4. Kinship Webinars
AELA invites interested artists and creatives to join us as a guest speaker in one of our Earth Arts Webinars – ‘Creative Conversations’.
If you’d like to submit a proposal for a topic, or nominate yourself or another artist/creative to join our webinar series, please fill out the EOI (Expression of Interest) form here. Please submit your ideas anytime up to 1 October 2026.
We aim to host webinars in the months leading up to ‘Earth Arts Week’ (16-20 November) as well as during the week itself. During Earth Arts Week, we will be holding online panel discussions and presentations for artists and creatives to share the work that they have been engaged with, works they are planning, or just the ideas that spark and drive their creative processes.
5. Host in-person and online activities during Earth Arts Week (16-20 November 2026)
Everyone is invited to host local activities celebrating ‘Kinship’ during Earth Arts Week, 16-20 November 2026. (In person or online)
These activities might include:
- Local art exhibitions
- Local art workshops that share, teach or encourage engagement with the them of ‘Kinship’
- Deep ecology workshops or retreats, that invite people to engage with the topic of ‘Kinship’
- Dinners, picnics or other celebrations of the living world
You can register your event with AELA’s Kinship Events Register anytime before 1 October 2026, by submitting an EOI (Expression of Interest) form here.
QUESTIONS? Please email us anytime – [email protected]