UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

Can the Himalayas Speak? Firework Art, Marketing and Posthuman Ethics of Nature

Identification

Public canonical key

doi:10.1111/geoj.70064

Authors

Yana Wengel · Ling Ma

Reported year

2026

Reported language

en

Source type

article

First detected

2026-11-09T19:18:48.030525+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-09T19:18:48.030525+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

Arizona State University · Chinese University of Hong Kong · Hainan University

Documentary abstract — original language

ABSTRACT Mountains are increasingly drawn into the circuits of global art, branding and tourism, yet their fragile ecologies and cultural meanings raise pressing ethical questions. This commentary engages with debates at the intersection of mountain geographies, environmental ethics and posthumanist thought. It speaks to scholars of geography, tourism and conservation who are concerned with how fragile ecosystems are represented and mobilised in contemporary cultural and commercial practices. The key issue addressed is the tendency to treat mountain landscapes and other environments as empty canvases for personal representation, art spectacle and branding—a framing that risks erasing ecological fragility, cultural meaning and local voices. The paper uses the 2025 Rising Dragon fireworks performance in Gyangze County, staged by Arc'teryx and Cai Guo‐Qiang, as a case study through which to explore these tensions. Promoted as a tribute to ‘mountain culture’, the event provoked controversy for reducing the Tibetan Plateau to a backdrop for art and corporate promotion while exposing its fragile ecology to potential harm. We argue that posthumanist geographies and holistic approaches to nature ethics provide valuable frameworks for understanding human–non‐human relations. They foreground the agency of mountains, atmospheres, soils and wildlife in co‐producing cultural performances, while also revealing the politics of representation that exclude community voices and local traditions. The commentary concludes by calling for ethical, inclusive and posthuman approaches to represent and engage with mountains and other environments.

Identifiers

OPENALEX

W7124729799

DOI

10.1111/geoj.70064

Documentary context

Documentary family

Scholarship

Source-reported types

article

Natural entities mentioned

Mountain · Ecosystem · Landscape

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1 · Record 2

• DOI · https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.70064
• OpenAlex · https://openalex.org/W7124729799

Documented bibliographic relations

Source-declared references and links; they do not establish legal support or UGLC qualification. Up to 20 outgoing references are displayed.

• openalex:w2084397411 · CITES
• openalex:w2091181319 · CITES
• openalex:w2142781264 · CITES
• openalex:w2343943587 · CITES
• openalex:w2900621324 · CITES
• openalex:w2908315346 · CITES
• openalex:w2953422867 · CITES
• openalex:w3000274730 · CITES
• openalex:w3122876282 · CITES
• openalex:w4249292346 · CITES
• openalex:w4312531016 · CITES
• openalex:w4400924818 · CITES

0 incoming references within the detected corpus

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

This identity is not yet included in the Legal Library.