Moulding Nature – Workshop and exhibiton in Timisoara, Romania
Based on a workshop process together with architecture students from Timisoara Politehnica University an idea-exhibition is created on the theme of Molding Nature, shown at the House of European Institutes in Timisoara, Romania.
In a collaboration with Politehnica University in Timisoara, Romania, we go beyond the notion of garden as merely a piece of controlled nature, by approaching the concept as a more complex state based on entanglements between humans, non-humans and plants, acknowledging that we are all part of nature.
Architecture students in Timisoara got together in October 2023 to explore how our societies have been shaping nature through the creation and meaning-making of the garden, with the campus area of the university as an object of study.
Having a garden requires taking care not only of what serves our own needs, but of the whole fragile ecosystem that maintains the balance in the space. Yet, the lack of awareness of this fragility could also mean building gardens as a mere form of decoration, and a symbol of human dominance over nature. Can a garden exist with less human mediation? What purpose do gardens serve and what identity do they hold beyond human needs? Gardens can be regarded as living metaphors for symbiotic growth and coexistence, but they are also an arena for making power relations visible. They display and communicate how one organism cannot exist without affecting another.
Partners and funders
The project is part of the National Cultural Programme “Timisoara – European Capital of Culture in 2023” and is funded by the European Echoes programme, run by the Timisoara City Council Project Centre, with funds allocated from the state budget, through the Ministry of Culture budget. It is organized in partnership with the Municipality of Timișoara through the Project Centre, and with support from the Swedish Embassy in Bucharest.
The knowledge production on Moulding Nature has been developed by Nico Carpentier and Färgfabriken. This part of the project is funded by Mistra Environmental Communication.
Related
Since 2021, Färgfabriken explores different aspects of the theme garden. The work takes shape in exhibitions and activities and is dispersed in various projects and collaborations with external partners. Read more about our activities and exhibitions the theme garden here.