Shelley Etkin is a dancer, writer, and transdisciplinary artist. Her research addresses relations between bodies and lands through place-based and multi-local knowledges, particularly with the plant world. Through socially-engaged practices, she asks questions about land stewardship, migration, ancestral knowledges, and social-ecological transformation. She teaches in a range of contexts internationally.
Shelley initiated the Garden as Studio platform for artistic research into garden as body and body as garden at Ponderosa in Brandenburg (2019-2023) and co-facilitates the Berlin-based Social Body Apothecary (2021-ongoing), working with plants as allies for marginalised communities as well as the Ireland-based Cork Herbal Commons (2026), a space for peer-to-peer herbal skill sharing. Her teaching and pedagogical work are hosted in a range of contexts, from community organisations to universities. Shelley holds an MA in Ecology & Contemporary Performance as well as a BA in Gender Studies, with training in herbalism, homeopathy, holistic bodywork methods, and permaculture design.