Zoöp Connections: Residencies, Regeneration and Cultural RelationsZoöp Connections: Residencies, Regeneration and Cultural Relations

This year, as part of the project, residents Estelle Zhong Mengual (France), Fabian Schäfer (Germany), Yolanda Uriz (Spain), Kapinga Muela Kabeya (Flanders) and Ashley Holmes (United Kingdom) were stationed at five Dutch Zoops. These organisations are committed to improving the health of their ecosystems at a time of waning biodiversity and climate catastrophe.

15:30 - 16:15 Pods

Choose to join any of the following pods:

• Pod 1 with Estelle Zhong Mengual (philosopher, art historian and author of Apprendre á voir [Learning to See].

Estelle Zhong Mengual is currently back in the Netherlands for the second leg of her residency, familiarising herself further with Zoöp processes and practices. Throughout her work and during this workshop, she asks us: how can we enter into regenerative relationships with the living world, and how can we find meaning through new ways of seeing?

• Pod 2 with Fabian Schäfer (visual artist, tree worker, mountaineer and lichen expert).

What can lichens tell us about a place? Fabian Schäfer spent ten days of his residency on a small boat at the Zoöp de Ceuvel this year, studying moss and lichen life on post-industrial concrete terrain.

• Pod 3 (To be announced)

• Pod 4 with Klaas Kuitenbrouwer (founder and director of the Zoönomic Foundation and researcher at the Nieuwe Instituut)

Join Klaas Kuitenbrouwer for a brief introduction to the basic ideas of the Zoöp. Discover what it means to view an organisation as an ecosystem comprising both human and more-than-human participants.

16:30 - 18:15 Learning from the Residents

After a brief introduction by moderator Kirsten van den Hul and a discussion with Klaas Kuitenbrouwer, founder of the Zoönomic Foundation, the residents will tell us all about the Zoöps. They will reflect on their role and purpose in this project and share what they have learned. The session concludes with an open Q&A.

18:15 - 19:15 Drinks at the Nieuwe Café

The Zoöp Connections project is an initiative of EUNIC Netherlands, coordinated by DutchCulture and the Zoönomic Institute, and supported by the EUNIC Global Cluster Fund.

The residencies were organised by the following duos, each pairing a Zoöp with a EUNIC Netherlands Cluster member: Zoöp Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen x British Council Netherlands; Zoöp Gagel Farm x Vlaams Cultuurhuis de Brakke Grond; Zoop De Ceuvel x Goethe-Institut Niederlande; Zoöp Creative Coding Utrecht x Instituto Cervantes Utrecht; and Zoop Nieuwe Instituut x Institut français NL.