In September 2022, Eline De Clercq started a community garden for and by students and artists at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. ‘The Sympoiesis Garden’ is a three-year artistic research project on art and ecology and functions as a non-formal learning environment about climate change, gender norms, decolonisation and intersectionalism.
The publication is conceived as a map of the garden, with patches of words and a path for the reader to follow. It is a string figure with more-than-human gardeners, because one can't make a garden alone. The poster tells about the research inspired by Donna Haraway, Anna Tsing, Jamaica Kincaid, Ursula Le Guin and many others. The artistic approach to gardening focuses on how we can use our skills to make a difference within this troubled present: looking at climate breakdown and acting on response-ability.
The poster is published by Track Report and printed by Stockmans Art Books.
Design by Maren Rommerskirchen & Kristí Fekete.
→ Find out what the garden community is up to via @royalacademyantwerpgarden
The poster is available for free:
→ FORUM+ included the poster as an artistic contribution in its October issue on the art school as an ecosystem in the 21st century
→ The poster is also to be found in the exhibition ‘Ecosystems’ at the Lange Zaal of the Academy (on view till 9 November 2023)
→ Available at the Library of the Academy
→ The poster has been designated to the public domain and you can download it here
