Umulkhayr Mohamed
Umulkhayr Mohamed is a Welsh Somali artist, and community organiser/facilitator who's work explores the tension present between crafting paths towards emancipatory futures and a functional need to position oneself in the now. His was drawn to land justice as a place where they felt able to join the practicing of a spirituality rooted in animism and ancestral honouring, including our more-than-human ancestors with a politic grounded in inter species solidarity and collective liberation.
Ro Barnes
Ro has always loved the outdoors, plants and all things food! Tying these interests together they’re forging a livelihood growing organic vegetables at Coed Organic and Awen Organics. But as a queer person who grew in rural South Wales they know all too well the damaging homophobic, racist, and ableist forces at play in the welsh countryside and wants to play a role in re-making the land around us, so joined Teasel to help build a safe and nourishing home for all on our land!
Lars Christen
Lars is a queer multidisciplinary artist and gardener born in Switzerland and raised in Greece. Thinking about queer ecologies and finding ways to deconstruct normative views of the natural world has been a central theme for them in recent years, which they explore both through their art and in gardening. Lars is enthusiastic about wild food, growing vegetables and intersectional politics. They deeply believe in the importance of intergenerational sharing of knowledge and healing our relationship with the more-than-human kin.
Radha Patel
I am a storyteller and artist whose work intersects across colonialism, nature, religion, rituals, language, folklore and speculative futures. I joined Teasel because I believe in land and food justice, they're the most pressing issues of our time and we have to organise ourselves and our communities to take practical actions to make sure everyone is cared for. The autonomy of all humans, plants, animals and insects is intimately connected, and I am excited to be part of a project that creates spaces for queer communities to build interspecies solidarity and bring all Beings together. By radically connecting to the delicate magic of Earth, we can recover past connections lost through colonisation and build new ones too.
Clare Bissell
Clare moved to Cardiff 4 years ago, having grown up in Bedford. They previously spent 12 years working with young people and communities in London and Bedfordshire before going back to uni to study political ecology. She now does participatory research about biodiversity rejuvenation in the UK and is involved in various community food/growing projects in Splott, including Teasel. Clare is passionate about community building and forming kinships with humans and more-than-humans. And about more people having access to and stewardship of land in ways which will enable such kinships. They love cats, sewing and being cosy.
Ali Taherzadeh
Ali is a community food activist, facilitator, and agroecology researcher. They have recently finished a PhD exploring how to develop effective social movement organising capable of transforming the food system. Ali is part of Teasel as they believe in the power of land connection and grassroots political education in inspiring and supporting people to take collective action for land, food, and climate justice. This is particularly important for queer and other marginalised folk who can feel alienated in rural spaces and some spaces of political organising. Ali is particularly passionate about supporting peer to peer learning and community-building so people can develop the skills and knowledge needed to create ecologically sustainable and liberatory futures and feel empowered to take action.