What can Soil tell us about ourselves and our surroundings if we see it as an active participant? In this workshop we connect two distant cities – Johannesburg and Berlin – through the digital and their earths. A practical exercise in close looking at what lies underneath our feet and the historical, cultural and social significance of Soil.

Io Makandal is an artist and researcher based in Johannesburg. Her practice is concerned with feminist embodiments, plantscapes and urban ecology.
iomakandal.com

Nisha Merit vC is a curator in Johannesburg and Berlin. Her practice is based on Care, concerned with the processes of art and its knowledges.
instagram.com

Cover your eyes and allow yourself to fall into a state of trance to meet a symbiotic Camille inspired by Donna Haraway´s The Camille Stories: Children of the Compost. This Camille is the hunter that takes care of the entrance to the magic world. And you let yourself be guided to that magic world by Katharina Auer.

Valeria Schwarz is an artist, curator, cultural mediator and mother. Her works are influenced by speculative fiction and ideas of common welfare.
valeriaschwarz.com/

In this trans-species encounter we will experiment to create an inclusive and sensual awareness for our fellow soil microorganisms. Playfully we’ll experiment to re-awaken our innate sensing nature, to move from a human-centred towards a more earth-bound mindfulness and presence by methods like Deep Listening, radical and feminist pedagogies. Come in comfy clothes, bring something to sit on. 

RADICAL EMPATHIE LAB was founded as a nomadic socio-ecological research lab by artist, curator, and scholar Berit Fischer.
beritfischer.org

Last year, we investigated which contaminants are present in the water and soil at the Floating University. In this workshop, we will make these findings visible on site. Together, we will develop simple symbols representing the different contaminants and transfer them onto signs that will be installed throughout the site, making the information accessible to all visitors.

Ute Lindenbeck is a set and costume designer and has been working in the field of cultural education since 2017.
utelindenbeck.de 

Jade Dreyfuss is an artist, photographer, and illustrator.
Instagram

In the Open Mic Session: Life in Earth, we accompany the organisms living in the soils of the rainwater retention basin. Through high-magnification imagery, we observe how they move mineral crystals within their habitat and bring the soil to life. Activating our senses, we encounter life in—and of—the earth in new ways.
 

Lorene Blanche is an architect, transdisciplinary artist, gardener and author. Her regenerative practice creates encounters between more-than-human and human life in urban space.
Floating Gardens

What does the mud washed from Tempelhofer Feld into the stormwater retention basin smell like? And what is the scent of the compost along its edges? Which words and forms can we find to describe the smells of the soils at the Floating University? Through a collective mapping exercise, we will preserve and share our sensory perceptions.

Silja Teresa Huppertz studied Cultural Studies with a focus on urban studies. In her artistic practice, she explores ways of dismantling barriers and increasing accessibility.
teresa.huppertz@gmail.com

Last year, we commissioned an analysis of selected contaminants in the soils across the Floating University site and published the results on our website. The findings showed that the soils surrounding the stormwater retention basin were less contaminated than expected. However, contaminants affect living organisms in different ways. In this session, we will present and discuss the results of our soil analysis.

DIE BODEN SCHAFFT, Martina Kolarek, Biochemist, soil scientist, author, and artist.
die-boden-schafft.de

The Compost Choir is a kinship exercise to connect with the transformative process of making fertile soil. It is a score for group vocal improvisation, in which participants join with their voices as the necessary elements for hot composting and improvise together to become the luscious soil our hearts and gardens desire.

Ela Spalding is an artist~facilitator, bridging art and ecology
elaspalding.com 

DIE BODEN SCHAFFT, Martina Kolarek is a soil scientist and artist
die-boden-schafft.de

The film installation Life in Earth accompanies organisms living in the Floating hot compost transforming waste into fertile soil. 

Martina Kolarek (concept) and Lorene Blanche (artistic interpretation, realisation) with the support of the OPEN SOIL LAB at Floating University (Berlin 2021)