Pioneering project that starts from the creation of new conditions for making ecologically engaged visual art. Together with a small group of students a new type of garden is created where ecology and artistic development reinforce each other. The sympoiesis garden ('sympoiesis' means 'making together') is an experimental area where artists and students learn how to recognise, understand, restore, build and strengthen nature. It is a physical place for putting ecofeminist theory into practice. Themes include environmentalism, climate change, gender norms, classification systems, decolonisation and intersectionalism.
During one year, the sympoiesis garden will be planted with a responsible botanical selection that corresponds to the local ecology and the typical characteristics of the Academy and its students. External expertise is invited to share their queer and botanical knowledge. Developments are posted online via a logbook designed for this purpose. In this way, a new ecofeminist artistic vision can be developed from the sympoiesis garden, the co-creation of a botanical workplace for visual art and ecology.
