The Island, the Mine, and the Resistance Gardens is an exhibition by Crystal Bennes with Mohamed Sleiman Labat. It brings together existing and new work that shape another chapter of the larger, ongoing research project We Eat the Earth. The project explores the relationship between agriculture, extraction, ecology, and power. Focusing og phosphate fertiliser as both material and political agent, the project examines how systems of food production shape landscapes, environments, and social structures across different geographical contexts.

Through a series of interconnected case studies in Sweden, Western Sahara and Algeria, the project traces global flows and consequences of industrial agriculture, linking historical processes of colonialism and resource extraction to contemporary environmental and political crises. At the same time, it highlights alternative agricultural practices that point toward more sustainable and regenerative futures.

The exhibition also includes Desert Phosfate, a film by Saharawi artist Mohamed Sleiman Labat, which tells the story of phosphate through the realities and poetics of Saharawi desert lives.

Catalogue text, Extraction and Refusal, by Elisa Medde.

The exhibition was held at Fotogalleriet, Oslo from 20 August to 1 October, 2026.

Image credits: Studio Abrakadabra