The theme of AELA’s 2026 Earth Arts Program is ‘Kinship’.
Kinship 2026 is an invitation for all creatives to celebrate, share creative works and learn more about our deep interconnection and entanglement with all of life on earth. As part of the Arts Program, AELA will be hosting a range of activities and events in the lead up to ‘Earth Arts Week’ from 16-20 November 2026.
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’
Call for Participation
If you’re interested in being part of Kinship 2026, AELA’s Earth Arts Program this year, you can FILL OUT OUR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FORM, and join us in one or more of the following ways:
1. Earth Arts Virtual Gallery
In 2026, AELA will be promoting the work of Earth Artists and creatives, via our Virtual Gallery. The Virtual Gallery will showcase selected works by all program participants.
If you’d like to participate and showcase your artworks in our ‘Kinship’ Virtual Gallery, please visit our EOI (Expression of Interest) form here. You’ll be able to view the ‘Kinship’ Virtual Gallery soon!
Visit all of AELA’s previous Earth Arts galleries here
2. Creative Writing Scholarship
AELA will be announcing a process to apply for a Nature Writing Scholarship very soon. Please sign up to our newsletter to stay informed!
3. Earthwords & Artlings Anthology #3
AELA’s Earthwords & Artlings Anthology, Volume 3, is open for submissions under the theme of “Kinship”.
You can find out more here about the anthology.
You can submit your creative writing, poetry, photography or images of other art works via our EOI (Expression of Interest) form here.
Visit AELA’s Earthwords & Artlings Anthology 1 & 2 here.
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 go to our EOI form (Expression of Interest) here.
We aim to host webinars in the months leading up to ‘Earth Arts Week’, 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 the creative processes.
5. Host in-person 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.
These activities might include:
- Local art exhibitions
- Local art workshops that share, teach or encourage participation
- Deep ecology workshops or retreats, that invite people to engage with the topic of ‘Kinship’
- Dinners, picnics or other celebrations of the living world
To find out more, and ‘register’ your event with the AELA Earth Arts program, please visit our EOI (Expression of Interest) form here.