De Ceuvel Autumn Celebration – Alternative Animal Day

We celebrate the season, as the leaves begin to fall and animals and plants prepare for winter. October 4 is World Animal Day, a fitting moment for people to celebrate all the animals in their surroundings.

During this edition, we focus on the period of rest that many animals enter from October onwards – both on land and in the water. We explore how animals survive the winter and answer the question of where animals go during the colder months and what they do there.

Expect workshops where you can make something for animals, mini-safaris where you discover what lives in your neighbourhood, inspiring talks & documentaries, music and interactive theatre at De Ceuvel.

Programme summary:

• Animal puppet show A Bit Lost with Yvonne
• Market with local nature initiatives
• Festive opening with Renier Sijpkens from Muziekboot
• Exhibition featuring recent graduation work by young artists
• Protopia experiment: Talk to a 100-year-old tree at De Ceuvel via AI
• Mini-safari: What do butterflies do in winter?
• Onderstroom: Noord Zoekt Soort talk
• Onderstroom: Dreaming Like an Animal
• Onderstroom: Protopia, inspirational talk about nature and technology
• Build a hedgehog house workshop with handyman Roel
• Live music by William Barrett & Band
• Autumn soup by circular chef Rhea
• Mini-safari with Noord Zoekt Soort
• Make a bird garland
• Animal Bingo with Lashaaawn
• Site-specific theatre by Snowapple

PROGRAMME:

From 11:00 – 12:00

Animal puppet show with Yvonne

Yvonne performs “A Bit Lost”. A little owl falls out of its nest and a squirrel helps it find its mother again.

Ongoing from 11:00 – 16:00

Market with local nature initiatives

Starts at 12:00

Festive opening with Renier Sijpkens

You may know Renier from his boat and trumpet, with which he sails through Amsterdam. Together with Muziekboot, we open the Autumn Celebration with animal songs and theatre to celebrate our relationship with animals.

Ongoing from 12:00 – 17:00

Recent graduation work by young artists

Artists present their graduation projects exploring animals and the Zoöp. Featuring, among others, Pam Hermelink and her salt marsh station (Master Design – Piet Zwart Institute) and Meave Kuitenbrouwer with BOND (Design for Change and Innovation at HKU).→ Would you also like to show your graduation project? Email tessa@deceuvel.nl

From 12:30 to 13:30

Mini-safari: What do butterflies do in winter?

We are going to discover – and help build – winter shelters for butterflies at De Ceuvel.

Ever wondered where all those butterflies in spring come from? They survived the winter!

Butterfly expert Nicky Castricum explains how butterflies survive the winter, and we will get hands-on by creating different garden structures that meet the strict wintering requirements of butterflies. There is plenty to learn for young and old! For adults: feel free to ask all your questions!

Ongoing from 12:30 – 15:00

De Onderstroom: inspirational talks & workshops

This time featuring an interactive talk by Noord Zoekt Soort, an exploration of the meeting point between technology and nature with Protopia, and the importance of dreaming about our future with Dreaming Like an Animal.
De Onderstroom is aimed at adults, or young people, who want to dive deeper!

12:30 – 13:15

Noord Zoekt Soort – interactive talk

Amsterdam-Noord is Amsterdam’s largest nature area! But do you ever wonder what that little animal or plant is called? Henk van Alst will show you how you can easily identify plants and animals using your phone – in a way that automatically adds your observation to a nature database. This means you are immediately contributing to the protection of nature in Noord. Practical talk with workshop, bring your phone! (Want to know more in advance? Visit www.noordzoektsoort.nl)

13:30 – 14:00

Protopia! – Inspirational talk about the mix of nature and technology.

What would you like to know from De Ceuvel’s oldest resident? Protopia Studio has developed a thought-provoking AI tool that allows you to have a conversation with a tree. They will explain why they created it and how they hope to give nature more of a voice. Come by and be surprised by the wise lessons of our beautiful plane tree!

Protopia is a newly founded initiative at De Ceuvel. More info: https://www.protopiastudio.nl

14:00 – 15:00
Dreaming Like an Animal – workshop 16+
What kind of world do we want to live in? What if animals could dream about that world too – what would they want? In this session, we will work practically and creatively with imagination, hope and action. For adults who may have forgotten how to dream, who could use some inspiration, or who want to meet others to dream together with. Come dream. Come play. Come build.

This marks the start of a new initiative at De Ceuvel – the Dream Boat. Because if you cannot imagine a better future, you cannot build it either.

Ongoing from 13:00 – 16:00

Build a hedgehog house workshop

Together with handyman Roel from the Vogelbuurt, you will get to work helping hedgehogs by creating a comfortable place for them to live. Together, we will build 4 to 5 hedgehog houses that people with a suitable garden can take home.

Starts at 13:30

Live music: William Barrett & Band

Ceuvel resident William will warm us up with music and perform his new jazz album.

Starts at 13:30 (while supplies last)

Autumn soup

Circular chef Rhea makes delicious soup from surplus food for you to taste.

Starts at 14:15

Mini-safari: Noord Zoekt Soort

Put your phone to good use! During this mini-safari, you will learn how to identify plants, animals and fungi using your phone. This way, you learn more about who lives around you while also helping map nature in Amsterdam-Noord as a citizen scientist.
Suitable for ages 10-100, bring your phone!

15:00 – 17:00

Make a bird garland

Celebrate the birds and help them through the winter by making a food garland that you can hang in your garden or neighbourhood green space.

From 15:15 to 16:15

Animal Bingo!

Let’s gooooo, bingooo! Win fun prizes in this exciting game, hosted by the one and only Lashaaawn.

Starts at 16:15

Closing performance by Snowapple Collective: NEVULA and the Dragon’s Tale

And they lived happily ever after... that is how this story begins.

On the banks of the IJ, among old houseboats and wild plants, lies a place where the boundaries between worlds begin to blur. Here, at De Ceuvel, an ancient dragon has descended.

Not as a prisoner, but as the ally of a princess who escaped the castle together with her. On a rickety ladder, they climb far beyond the clouds, searching for something that has been lost.

Can these extraordinary messengers rekindle the fire together?

Snowapple Collective returns to the Autumn Celebration with fairy tales, cosmic rhythms, dance and collective ceremony.

This programme is made possible in part by the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK)