Who and what makes the academy garden?
What can the academy garden teach us about ecology? In response to the climate emergency we are called to action, to gather our efforts in transdisciplinary collective practices. Who and what makes the
academy garden? questions how we can evolve a more inclusive art practice by working closely together with this garden. This approach of decentring humans recognises the agency of the garden and dissolves
the nature/culture dichotomy into a multispecies community garden.
Who and what makes an academy garden? is research into gardening as a collective artistic practice in a more than human perspective, centred in the garden at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (here after RAFAA). Together with the students and the various species we study a more real awareness of the garden, guided by curiosity and mutual care.
My research encompasses:
- Weekly open gardening sessions, students garden together, we appeal to their artistic talent
- Ecology as a course for visual arts students, or gardening as artistic practice
- Rereading of the Royal Decree from 1974 and propose a new garden design expanding on the identity of the academy garden
- Making the artist book 'the academy garden', about gardening as a practice in the academy garden
- Reading the garden from a queer perspective by undoing nature from supernormative labels
Results
Academy garden
A semi-public location on the premises of the RAFAA with weekly open gardening session for the students who like to engage in social and ecological practices.
Ecology
a new course in ecology, with a syllabus on various topics and tacit knowledge through gardening.
Proposal
How to care for the academy garden within the Royal Decree from 1974, document garden views.
Artist book
Title: The academy garden
Contains: species atlas, documents of changes, drawings of the layout, archiving the garden research projects, interpretation on gardening together, garden recipe, photos, interviews with fellow artists on what we can do in light of climate change. To be submitting to Track Report and scouting an artbook publisher.
Garden tours
On demand for various interested visitors, with workshops like the shade garden workshop during Open House. https://ap-arts.be/evenement/open-house-2025
Social Media
Instagram communication and sharing the garden work via profile @royalacademyantwerpgarden
https://www.instagram.com/royalacademyantwerpgarden/
Online logbook
The Royal Academy of Antwerp Garden Patches
A logbook on the evolution of the community garden since 2022.
https://elinedc.blogspot.com/p/the-royal-academy-of-antwerp-garden.html
Other texts
Previously I have shared my research in Flash Art, Forum+, glean and per garden publication available in Tique Books.
