Wasteland Summer School: WastescapesWasteland Summer School: Wastescapes

The way we deal with waste helps to maintain the idealised image of a clean, tidy city. Garbage collectors take waste to landfill sites and recycling centres, so there is less of it on our streets. Yet waste systems still disrupt the urban ideal – think of the rats and pigeons that gather around every rubbish bin. In Wastescapes, the focus is on so-called post-natural landscapes. These are urban environments designed to look natural while concealing waste.

The summer school will explore artistic research methods and examine the role of animals, plants and other creatures, as well as the traces of past pollution. Artists, researchers, activists and cultural practitioners will learn from each other, share knowledge and collaborate on new projects concerning the complex role of waste in a world that is greatly influenced by how people deal with it – both today and in the future.

Contributors to the programme include Anika Schwarzlose en Elena Khurtova, Carolien Schippers (C-A-S), Tanja Engelberts, Sigrid Schmeisser en Yuri Tuma (Institute for Postnatural Studies) en anderen. Het wordt geleid en georganiseerd door collective.wasteland als onderdeel van Wasteland Festival: Out of Sight. For more information about the festival, visit the website or follow collective.wasteland on Instagram.

The summer school will take place from 10 to 12 July, with sessions running from 10:00 to 17:00 daily.

It is aimed at professionals and students from the fields of art, design, activism, ecology and the social sciences. It offers the opportunity to deepen your knowledge, become part of an engaged community and forge new collaborations and friendships.

To encourage active participation, we kindly ask that you attend the entire programme. If you are unable do so for any reason, please indicate this on your registration form.

Participation costs are based on the ‘pay what you can’ principle. You can choose between tickets costing €65 and €45, depending on your financial situation. A limited number of fee reductions are also available. If you cannot afford the ticket price but would still like to participate, please email annevera@collective.wasteland.nl. Vegetarian and vegan lunches and drinks are included on all days.

Registration opens on 26 May. The deadline for submitting the OPEN CALL form is 15 June. There are 30 places available in total. If there are more registrations than places, participants will be selected to ensure a diverse group.

Do you have any questions? Send an email to info@collective.wasteland.nl

collective.wasteland (Katya Borisova, Yannik Güldner, Leon Lapa Pereira, Erik Peters and Anne Vera Veen) is an art collective that focuses on research and conducting collaborative experiments around waste. Recognising the impact of the waste crisis, the collective believes that collaboration is necessary to find solutions. It stimulates collaboration between art, activism, industry and science through research projects and public programmes such as the Wasteland Festival.

In 2023, the collective organised the Wasteland: Streams of Waste festival in The Hague. The event featured an exhibition, workshops, lectures, films and activities in public spaces. Visitors were invited to consider the journey taken by waste and its implications for people, animals and places.

This summer, the festival is coming to Rotterdam with Wasteland: Out of Sight, a month-long programme taking place throughout the city. There will be exhibitions, a summer school, guided tours, lectures, joint dinners and opening and closing ceremonies. The aim is to raise awareness of hidden waste-processing places and systems.