Sites of… Practice is a yearly programme that supports the emergence of a new field of practice in the face of the polycrisis.
Sites of… Practice is a year-long support infrastructure project curated by Lucia Pietroiusti (Head of Ecologies, at Serpentine, London) and Helen Turner (Artistic Director and Chief Curator, E-WERK Luckenwalde), in collaboration with curator Nada Rosa Schroer. It is hosted by E-WERK Luckenwalde, Germany, and commissioned by Arising Quo.
Click here for our programme
- Sites of… Practice: Online Circles 2024
Sites Of…Practice responds to an emergent field of art- and design-led experiments in site-specific, alternative organisational models. Working across pedagogy, cultural production, agriculture, social design and environmental repair. These sites bring together organisational and ecological thinking to move beyond awareness-raising. These are spaces where artists, culture-makers, political and ecological thinkers are gathering, building, making and creating while remaining responsive to their specific contexts. Rather than making work "about" climate and ecology, these sites are working with land-based contexts to work with and for the climate and their communities - in a way that is growing capacity in those contexts to have greater preparedness and resilience in the face of climate change and the poly-crisis. The “...” in the project title refers to the myriad ways in which these sites are experimenting with different forms of practice. As such, the project’s title is infinitely changeable: Sites of (rooted, situated, reciprocal, reparative, systemic, collective) practice may, and will, emerge.
Responding to a commission – an enquiry question – from Arising Quo, Sites of… Practice supports exchanges between a cohort of small-scale organisations across Europe.
This includes:
- A funding programme: over a 12-month period, each Site will receive a grant of 10,000 euros aimed at supporting capacity-building efforts within each organisation.
- A programme of skills exchange and practical workshops, conceived in collaboration with curator Nada Rosa Schroer, which bring experts to support Sites with practical, hands-on skills in environmental infrastructure, business planning, visioning, strategy and fundraising.
- An in-person retreat for the cohort, taking place in Spring 2025.
- A public symposium and exchange programme and the announcement of Year 2’s cohort in Spring 2025
- The publication of a strategic report focused on strategies for supporting this emergent field of practice, aimed at both those who support and seek support, launching in Spring 2025.
Sites of… Practice will also support participants to be in relationship with each other, to exchange, learn and deepen practice together, so that these practices may become more visible to others and more widely recognised as an emerging field.
The first cohort of Sites is:
Vessel - a collective studio, arts and event space on the island of Aegina, Greece with a core interest in ecology, resilience, and co-education in the context of the Greek islands and the wider Mediterranean.
Estudio Nuboso - a platform for art and ecology based in Panama. Estudio Nuboso’s vision is to restore the relationship between humans and nature as part of the global movement that seeks to create greater reciprocity with the planet.
The Institute for Postnatural Studies - a centre for artistic experimentation from which to explore and problematize postnature as a framework for contemporary creation.
Katzenwedelwiese - an alter-institutional project born during the exhibition Critical Zones that took place at the ZKM in Karlsruhe. This was developed by artist and ecologist Stéphane V. Bottéro to rethink the role of cultural institutions in the context of accelerating climate change and the collapse of the biosphere.
Cuerpoterritorio - a cultural association based in Valencia. . The mission of the association is to promote artistic expression and eco-social awareness through an eco-feminist perspective by materializing values of care towards human and more than human communities.
Are | are-events.org (ARE) - a curatorial organization based in Prague and Orlické Mountains, Czech Republic. In 2019, ARE established Woods – Community for Cultivation, Theory and Art and purchased a 2.8 hectare plot of forest and meadow in the village of Hnátnice in Orlické Mountains, with the aim of creating a sustainable biodiverse forest, animal refuge and garden founded on permaculture principles and to organize cultural outdoor events.
Mustarinda Association is a non-profit group of artists and researchers, founded in 2010, whose goal is to promote the ecological rebuilding of society, the diversity of culture and nature, and the connection between art and science.
Lucia Pietroiusti is Head of Ecologies at Serpentine, London. As a curator, programmer and organisational strategist, she works at the intersection of art, ecology and systems, often outside of the exhibition space.
Helen Turner is the Co-Artistic Director and Chief Curator of E-WERK Luckenwalde, a founding member of Gallery Climate Coalition Berlin, and Advisory board member of Urbane Kunst Ruhr.
Nada Rosa Schroer is an independent curator and researcher based in Cologne. Since 2020 she regularly collaborates with CCA Temporary Gallery, where she curated the programmes "Curating Transformation: Allyship - Degrowth - Grounding" and "Towards Permacultural Institutions“ (both w/ Aneta Rostkowska).
Arising Quo is a wealth redistribution initiative in its early days of exploring where and how to resource work that scaffolds us out of current systems - towards subterranean worlds and liberatory futures - and into new, post capitalist paradigms. Arising Quo is currently resourcing explorations that orient us towards places, practices and horizons we need to pay greater attention to.
For media information
Nicola Jeffs
nj@nicolajeffs.com
Sites of… Practice: Online Circles 2024
E-WERK is delighted to announce the Sites of…Practice Online Circles 2024 Programme. Over the course of 3 months seven sites will meet online to further their knowledge on building alternative water and energy infrastructures, creating visions and strategies for art institutions strategies, growing a mycelium network and nurturing sustainable philanthropy.
Programme
Building Alternative Water Infrastructure
Oct 14, 9–11:15 AM
With Katherine Ball and Polyplan Kreikenbaum
How will life change as our relationship to water transforms and we shift from being consumers of water to stewards of water?
During the first part of the workshop Katherine Ball will share practical strategies and tools to design, build, and maintain decentralized and experimental water infrastructure such as rain-/ greywater catchment and filtration systems. Participants will have the possibility to map and sketch out implementations according to their conditions on site.
Thereafter Stefan and Nina of Polyplan-Kreikenbaum will present their approach to getting from first idea to an actual implementation of a lake or rainwater system. They will present some of their projects, a range of possibilities and limitations one might have to face.
Katherine Ball explores the infrastructure of everyday life, aiming to reshape it for a more sustainable future. Her projects include off-grid living, mushroom-based water filtration, and climate activism. She holds a MFA in Social Practice from Portland State University and has been a Fulbright Fellow, and a MacDowell Fellow. Katherine was the "Water Filtration and Infiltration" artist-in-residence at Floating University. katherineball.com and everydayinfrastructure.net
Polyplan-Kreikenbaum is a team of engineers, urban planners, scientists and technicians focusing on water in urban areas, water treatment, water body remediation, water for bathing and experience, but also the handling of water in modern urban development (Sponge City). Stefan Bruns is the senior partner and founder of the Company with special focus on modeling and project drafts. Nina Röttgers is project engineer focusing on lake restoration and decentralized rainwater solutions.
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Growing a Mycelium Network (for Artist Residencies and other Art Institutions)
28 Oct 3, 6–7 PM
With Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez
We will take a deep dive into the worlds of fungi and ecosystems, understanding how they can inspire more interconnected and innovative approaches to collaborative and creative practices. We will be looking at non-monetary resource-exchange, mutual dependencies, decentralised and non-hierarchical systems and other mycelial methodologies.
Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez is a writer, curator, and researcher focused on art and ecology. She founded the Green Art Lab Alliance (2012), connecting 60 art organizations globally to promote environmental justice. She also established the Nature Research Department at Jan van Eyck Academie, the Van Eyck Food Lab, and the Future Materials Bank. A self-proclaimed "mycophile," she explores collaboration through a mycological lens. Her debut book, Let's Become Fungal! Mycelium Teachings and the Arts, was recognized as one of the Best Dutch Book Designs 2023 and nominated for the Best Book Design Globally 2023.
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Seeds of Resilience: Nurturing Sustainable Philanthropy and Purpose-Driven Leadership
Nov 14, 6–7:30 PM
With Jessica Sweidan & Ameyali Ramos
In this interactive session, we will explore the transformative practices of mindful fundraising and sustainable philanthropy, alongside innovative leadership principles tailored for small arts institutions. Participants will dive into hands-on applications and rich discussions, learning how to cultivate resilience and long-term growth through purpose-driven, values-based strategies. This session will emphasize holistic approaches that align mission with impact, embracing community collaboration, decentralized leadership, and ethical resource management. Through 1:1 mentoring and group dialogues, participants will be empowered to navigate the intersection of art, sustainability, and conscious leadership, moving beyond the status quo toward regenerative, impactful practices.
Ameyali Ramos is an advocate for communities and organizations actively working toward regenerative and impactful practices. She facilitates and advises on both fundraising strategies and on-the-ground implementation, particularly in Latin America. With over 15 years of experience, Ameyali supports Indigenous peoples and local communities in advancing their rights and self-determination. Her background in environmental policy and governance ensures strong social and environmental safeguards in all initiatives. As Deputy Chair of IUCN’s Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy, she is committed to empowering communities to create sustainable livelihoods and foster environmental well-being.
Jessica Sweidan is a creative, natural connector. She draws on her personal experience in philanthropy to encourage others to reimagine how they can more effectively support those on the frontlines of environmental defence. Her deep understanding of the importance of bio-cultural conservation and its crucial role in ensuring a healthy future has guided her philanthropic work. As a strategic convenor, she organises fora to ensure that the key voices needed to inform important discussions on our collective futures are present together and in productive dialogues. She is the Co-Founder of UK-based charity Synchronicity Earth.
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Creating Visions and Strategies for Art Institutions
Dec 2 + 6, 10-11:30 AM
With Anna Kessel (Kessel & Kessel)
Most purpose-driven organizations can answer the question of purpose in their sleep. Their purpose is like a kind of inner compass that provides orientation at all times, even in the face of great uncertainty and constantly changing weather conditions. However, a purpose is no substitute for a vision – a very concrete picture of what the world will look like in a few years' time, what role your organization will play in it and what contribution it will have made. In two workshop slots we will support you in developing a vision and derive a strategy, the answer to the most promising path towards that vision.
Anna Kessel studied cultural studies and sociology and has worked at different institutions within the art field. Today she works as a transformation facilitator, combining transactional analysis and systemic consulting with agile methods and design thinking. She consults organizations, purpose driven start ups, NGOs and foundations with a focus on strategy-making and cultural transformation.
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Building Alternative Energy Infrastructure
Dec 13, 10–11:30 AM
With Pablo Wendel and Helen Turner
In 2012, Pablo Wendel established Performance Electrics, an artistic venture that produces and distributes Kunststrom—electricity generated through artworks and artistic processes. In 2019, Wendel, alongside co-Artistic Director Helen Turner, launched E-WERK Luckenwalde in Brandenburg, transforming a former GDR-era brown coal power station into a cultural hub for ecological thinking and artistic practice. E-WERK supplies Kunststrom to the German National Grid while powering its own artistic programs with energy. Wendel and Turner will lead a workshop focusing on developing alternative energy infrastructures for art institutions that emphasize ecological and land-based practices. Participants will have the opportunity to explore potentials for their own infrastructure projects and sketch initial concepts.
Pablo Wendel is the joint Artistic Directors of E-WERK Luckenwalde and CEO of Performance Electrics gGmbH. Wendel has exhibited internationally, notably at the ICA, London (UK); KunstMuseum, Stuttgart (Germany) and Rockbund Art Museum (China).
Helen Turner is the Co-Artistic Director and Chief Curator of E-WERK Luckenwalde, leading its contemporary art program. A founding member of Gallery Climate Coalition, Berlin, and an Advisory Board member of Urbane Künste Ruhr, she has spoken at global events like Prada Frames and Berlin Art Week. Turner has written for Museums for Change and served as a jury member for VISIT and LAGI 2022. Previously, she was Chief Curator at Cass Sculpture Foundation and worked with Artangel. She also consulted Beatrix Ruf on the energy transformation of the MCA, invited by Forma Fantasma.
