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How do w
e as humans relate to the ecosystem after death? How does our body partici
pate in this? And how would it feel to be prey to another animal as part o
f the ecosystem, instead of living in control as we humans are used to?
>>>>> Please bring a plain, cotton
(‘almost-dead’) T-shirt or sweater <<<<<<.
Every day, life reveals itself to us in all its vibrant forms and colou
rs. In people, animals, trees, flowers, light, and water. It blooms and wi
lts, grows and breaks down, sprouts and decays. Everything is in constant
motion between coming into existence and disappearing. Yet we (humans) hav
e grown increasingly distant from this self-evidence. We prefer to talk ab
out life rather than dying, and we tend to look away from what happens to
a body after someone passes away. What do we actually know about dying? Or
about a deceased body? What happens underground after we are buried? Whic
h tiny creatures help us on the path toward a larger whole, and where do t
hey come from? This series of evenings is not a search for definitive answ
ers, but rather a space for questions and change, and for alternative ways
of seeing. Because perhaps right there, where something ends, another sto
ry begins.
On the program:
- Marijn Bax, Ceuvel resident, explores the physical relationship between humans an
d space through her work as a photographer and artist. Currently, her focu
s lies on our relationship with the soil. Starting from the question of ho
w our body becomes part of the ecosystem after death, she invites us to re
consider our taken-for-granted position as humans. Tonight’s starting poin
t will be a preview of the collaborative video work Marijn and Susanne Dui
jvestein created this summer during a mini-residency at Huis te Vraag (a h
istoric cemetery in Amsterdam, now a unique green space where nature, art,
and decay converge).
- Susanne Duijvestein,
ritual designer, educator, and farewell guide, founder of Stichting Veraar
den.
- Thijs de Zeeuw is Speaker for the Livi
ng for Zoöp De Ceuvel. He is also a landscape architect and NatureOptimist
who designs for the non-human at places like Artis Zoo. In his work, he t
ries to create space for other perspectives: what does the world look like
if you take another animal—instead of humans—as a starting point? Or if y
ou represent the Dead instead of the Living for a Zoöp?
- Hermen de Waal,
also a Ceuvel resident, photographer, filmmak
er, and affiliated with the Bee Foundation, will recite a poem about fungi
.