Forest Encounters

Vabljeni na prvo 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐯 𝐳𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐤𝐚 𝐒𝐫𝐞𝐜̌𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐚 𝐳 𝐠𝐨𝐳𝐝𝐨𝐦 / 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬! 🗓️ 𝐜̌𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐤, 𝟐𝟔. 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐜 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔, 𝟏𝟖.𝟑𝟎 📍 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐜̌𝐣𝐞, 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐧𝐢 𝐭𝐫𝐠 𝟐, 𝐋𝐣𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐣𝐨𝐜̌𝐢: Urška Jurman, umetnostna zgodovinarka in sociologinja kulture Mateja Kurir, filozofinja in raziskovalka Miha Krofel, raziskovalec prostoživečih živali, Biotehniška fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani Po uvodni seznanitvi z zbornikom, ki obravnava gozd in človekov odnos do njega skozi umetnost, znanost in humanistične vede, bosta sledili predstavitvi dveh prispevkov. Mateja Kurir bo govorila o zgodovinski odsotnosti gozda v filozofiji in o nedavnem obratu, ki gozd vzpostavlja kot pomemben prostor za zamišljanje drugačne prihodnosti. Miha Krofel pa bo predstavil ključne ukrepe za zagotavljanje boljšega sobivanja med volkovi, medvedi in risi ter ljudmi. Na predstavitvi bo knjigo mogoče kupiti po znižani ceni. Več informacij na naši spletni strani. ** Join us for the first 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 in Ljubljana! 🗓️ 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝟐𝟔 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔, 𝟏𝟖:𝟑𝟎 📍 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐜̌𝐣𝐞, 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐧𝐢 𝐭𝐫𝐠 𝟐, 𝐋𝐣𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐣𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬: Urška Jurman, art historian, sociologist of culture, and co-editor of the book Mateja Kurir, philosopher, researcher, and co-editor of the book Miha Krofel, wildlife researcher based at the Department of Forestry, Biotechnical Faculty at the University of Ljubljana After the book’s introductory presentation—exploring the relationship between forests and humans through art, science, and the humanities—two contributions will follow. Drawing on her essay, Mateja Kurir will discuss the historical absence of the forest in philosophy and the recent turn that recognizes the forest as a meaningful space for imagining different futures. Miha Krofel will present key strategies for improving coexistence between humans and large carnivores, specifically wolves and bears. The book will be available for purchase at a special discounted price during the presentation. More info on our website.

The Forest Encounters book is freely accessible online! The book invites you into the forest and its many meanings, challenges, and perspectives. It brings together voices from different disciplines, geographies, and cultures with the aim to examine the forest and the human relationship to it. Editors: Urška Jurman and Mateja Kurir Contributors: Giovanni Aloi, Daniela Brasil and Nayari Castillo, T. J. Demos, Marjolijn Dijkman, Dusica Drazic, Katharina Flich, Maja Fowkes and Reuben Fowkes, Lea Hartmeyer, Urška Jurman, Agata A. Konczal, Miha Krofel, Ana Kučan, Mateja Kurir, Polonca Lovsin, Felicita Medved, Teo Hrvoje Oršanič, Borut Peterlin, Bojana Piškur, Titta C. Raccagni, Zoe Jo Rae, Alex Schuurbiers Design and layout: Rafaela Dražić The forest is a living demonstration that strength arises from diversity and resilience from interconnection. Thus, the book invites you to explore the forest as a space with which we can learn otherwise. Download the book: /news-book/ The book is available also in print and can be soon purchased online for €20 plus shipping. Stay tuned for updates! Published by Igor Zabel Association for Culture and Theory (Ljubljana) & Archive Books (Berlin). Co-funded by the European Union, Creative Europe Program. @dr.aloi @brasil_daniela @nayaricm @tjdemos @marjolijn_dijkman @_out.of.sight_ @majafowkes @reuben.fowkes @ana_kucan_ @mateja_k_b @poloncalovsin @hot_naturalis @borutpeterlin @zoe.jo.design @hetschuur @ticora @flichwiefluch

Thank you once again to everyone who contributed to the FOREST ENCOUNTERS Podcast! 🍃 To all the writers who submitted their stories to our open call, and especially to the six selected contributors — Zoe Jo, Katharina Flich, Titta C. Raccagni, Felicita Medved, and Lea Hartmeyer — who joined us on these sonic journeys; 🍃 To Vladislava Đorđević, Željko Maksimović, Milutin Dapčević, and Paul Murray, who gave their voices; 🍃 To Bojan Palikuć, who made these forests speak to us; 🍃 And of course, thank you to all our listeners! Explore the forest. One voice at a time: /album/forest-encounters-podcast Featuring: Ep 1 — Zoe Jo Notes from an Arborist: Lost Stories An urban arborist speaks on the entanglements of care, labor, and city trees. Ep 2 — Katharina Flich Moss On A Coral Fossils in the forest. A poetic excavation of timelines, absence, and deep time. Ep 3 — Titta C. Raccagni On Inforesting. Story of Ultima Becoming Woods A tender farewell or a radical becoming? Ultima disappears into the forest. Ep 4 — Alex Schuurbiers Honeymoon Mysticism, memory, jungle - a sensual filmic meditation on forests within us. Ep 5 — Felicita Medved Green Transition A poem of protest and love. Wind energy, transparency, and the forests of Slovenia. Ep 6 — Lea Hartmeyer A Forest in a Tree Even a potted tree is not alone. A landscape researcher reflects on urban forests as care infrastructure. Eps 7–10 — Dušica Dražić, Tanja Šljivar, Mirjana Dragosavljević It Rains Differently Who speaks when the forest speaks? A shifting, multilingual chorus of trees, mushrooms, and humans. . The Forest Encounters Podcast is produced by Out of Sight in partnership with the Igor Zabel Association and Graz University of Technology. . Co-funded by the European Union and Flanders — State of the Art. . Images: 1. Polonca Lovšin (detail) 2. Dušica Dražić . #ForestEncountersPodcast #Storytelling #ArtAndEcology #CreativeEurope #EntangledFutures #ForestVoices #ZoeJo #KatharinaFlich #TittaCRaccagni #AlexSchuurbiers #FelicitaMedved #LeaHartmeyer #DušicaDražić #TanjaŠljivar #MirjanaDragosavljević #OutOfSight

Spanning four episodes, IT RAINS DIFFERENTLY, the original script written by Dušica Dražić, Tanja Šljivar, Mirjana Dragosavljević, offers a richly layered, multi-voiced performance exploring agency, and the politics of speaking as the Forest. Combining poetic text, narrative fiction, and philosophical inquiry, this audio-drama challenges anthropocentric habits of language and knowledge. The Forest is imagined as both orator and subject—sometimes female, sometimes collective, sometimes absent. Through shifting voices and narrative fragments, the work constructs a speculative Forest Parliament, where identity and authority are continually negotiated. . Voices: Vladislava Đorđević, Željko Maksimović, Milutin Dapčević, Paul Murray Mixing and Mastering: Bojan Palikuća DOP (video): Hannes Boeck . These final episodes complete a ten-part Forest Encounters Podcast series weaving together grief, care, protest, and imagination. Listen now & tune into the plurality of the forest. 🌍🍃 . The podcast is produced by Out of Sight in partnership with the Igor Zabel Association and Graz University of Technology. . Co-funded by the European Union and Flanders — State of the Art. ⁠ The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the EU nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. . ⁠ #ForestEncountersPodcast #ItRainsDifferently #DusicaDrazic #TanjaSljivar #MirjanaDragosavljevic #SpeculativeFiction #ForestParliament #ArtAndEcology #CreativeEurope

How do we define a forest when a single tree in a pot holds entire worlds? Researcher and landscape designer Lea Hartmeyer reflects on her daily encounters with urban trees in Episode 6 of the Forest Encounters Podcast — A FOREST IN A TREE. Lea writes from her experience in Urban Forestry, exploring how urban trees, often overlooked or instrumentalized, ask us to cultivate attention and redefine what a forest can be. She shares how caring for them reveals fragile, entangled ecosystems, even in the most artificial settings. “Even the singular tree in a pot that I do experiments on is not alone, not isolated. It is a sustaining and sustained part of a larger community of other beings and things.” . Voice: Željko Maksimović Mixing and Mastering: Bojan Palikuća . This is the Forest Encounters Podcast — a space for poetic, personal, and imaginative stories that explore our entangled lives with the forest. . 💚 Thank you for listening, and don’t forget to check out other episodes of the Forest Encounters Podcast. 🌿 Listen now — link in bio! . The podcast is produced by Out of Sight in partnership with the Igor Zabel Association and Graz University of Technology, co-funded by the European Union and Flanders — State of the Art. ⁠ The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the EU nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. #ForestEncountersPodcast #LeaHartmeyer #AForestInATree #EntangledFutures #CreativeEurope #ForestStories #ArtAndEcology #OutOfSight #UrbanForest #TreeAsCommunity #LivingLaboratory #EcologiesOfCare

In Episode 5 of the Forest Encounters Podcast, human geographer and writer Felicita Medved offers a poetic outcry born from love for the forest — and concern for what is unfolding within it. “Forest, do you hear? You are to be felled your roots mined for alien species to be planted in concrete” GREEN TRANSITION is a haunting and heartfelt poem that reflects on the collision between green futures and extractive logics. It is a call for deeper ecological care in shaping our collective future — one that moves beyond the capitalist logic of the ongoing green transition. . Voice: Milutin Dapčević Mixing and Mastering: Bojan Palikuća . This is the Forest Encounters Podcast — a space for poetic, personal, and imaginative stories that explore our entangled lives with the forest. ⁠ 💚 Listen now — link in bio! And don’t forget to check out other episodes of the Forest Encounters Podcast. . The podcast is produced by Out of Sight in partnership with the Igor Zabel Association and Graz University of Technology. . Co-funded by the European Union and Flanders — State of the Art. ⁠ The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the EU nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. . #ForestEncountersPodcast #FelicitaMedved #GreenTransition #EntangledFutures #CreativeEurope #ForestStories #ArtAndEcology #OutOfSight #RightsOfNature

This is Episode 4 of Forest Encounters Podcast — a space for poetic, personal, and imaginative stories that explore our entangled lives with the forest. HONEYMOON A story written by Alex Schuurbiers @hetschuur "I opened the curtains and saw hundreds, no, thousands of insects throwing themselves at the window. It was deafening. The beating of the bugs against the glass doors, trying to get in... I opened my mouth, let the insects enter me and eat me." In this sensual, surreal and emotionally charged monologue, Alex takes us into a fever dream of desire, decay, and transformation—set on a lush tropical island that slowly slips into the forest's embrace. From white robes and seafood dinners to bug swarms and marble myths, Honeymoon is a bold dive into the wild interior. . Voice: Vladislava Đorđević Mixing and Mastering: Bojan Palikuća .⁠ 🔗 Listen now on Bandcamp: forestencounters.bandcamp.com 💚 Link in bio And don’t forget to check out other episodes of the Forest Encounters Podcast. . The podcast is produced by Out of Sight in partnership with the Igor Zabel Association and Graz University of Technology. . Co-funded by the European Union and Flanders — State of the Art. ⁠ The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the EU nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. . #ForestEncountersPodcast #AlexSchuurbiers #Honeymoon #EntangledFutures #CreativeEurope #ForestStories #ArtAndEcology #OutOfSight

🌳🌿🐕🌳 EPISODE 3 of the Forest Encounters Podcast Titta C. Raccagni — ON INFORESTING. Story of Ultima Becoming Woods A quiet disappearance, a wild metamorphosis. Ultima, a beloved dog and companion, chooses the forest for her final journey — and in doing so, becomes part of it. This poetic and deeply personal episode drifts through memory, grief, and biodiversity, offering an intimate meditation on death, transformation, and the limits of human ownership. “Maybe Ultima has turned into a woodland creature and came to greet us in her own way...” From the beeches to the forget-me-nots, from solitude to connection, this story invites us to feel the forest not only as place, but as process. . Voice: Milutin Dapčević Mixing and Mastering: Bojan Palikuća . This is the Forest Encounters Podcast — a space for poetic, personal, and imaginative stories that explore our entangled lives with the forest. ⁠ 🔗 Listen now — link in bio! And don’t forget to check out other episodes of the Forest Encounters Podcast. . The podcast is produced by Out of Sight in partnership with the Igor Zabel Association and Graz University of Technology. . Co-funded by the European Union and Flanders — State of the Art. ⁠ The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the EU nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. . #ForestEncountersPodcast #OnInforesting #Ultima #GriefAndNature #EntangledFutures #CreativeEurope #ForestStories #ArtAndEcology #TittaCRaccagni #OutOfSight

🌿 NEW EPISODE of the Forest Encounters Podcast is out now! Episode 2: Katharina Flich – MOSS ON A CORAL In this episode, Katharina weaves together the quiet persistence of moss and the ancient memory of coral. A poetic excavation of time, absence, and the histories we carry — or choose to unearth. “I accompanied a palaeontologist for a fossil hunt close to my home. Even though I had read about palaeontology and seen fossils in museums, it felt very different to find them in the woods.” – Katharina Flich They who have not known a human being I dig them out of time, I pick up the threads of their histories and weave them into mine. . Katharina Flich (b. 1991, Vienna) studied Biology and Evolutionary Anthropology in her hometown before turning to painting and writing. After receiving a regional fine art prize in 2021, she began working professionally as an artist. Her work is driven by a fascination with the often surreal poetry of reality—something she uncovers through the lens of science. . Voice: Vladislava Đorđević Mixing and Mastering: Bojan Palikuća . This is the Forest Encounters Podcast — 10 poetic, personal, and imaginative sonic journeys through our entangled lives with the forest. 🔗 Listen now: /album/forest-encounters-podcast . The podcast is produced by Out of Sight in partnership with the Igor Zabel Association and Graz University of Technology. . Co-funded by the European Union and Flanders — State of the Art. ⁠ The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the EU nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. . #ForestEncountersPodcast #KatharinaFlich #MossOnACoral #PoetryAndScience #OutOfSight #EcologicalArt #FossilsAndForests #EntangledHistories

The first episode of the Forest Encounters Podcast is out!!! Listen to NOTES FROM AN ARBORIST: LOST STORIES by Zoe Jo @zoe.jo.design “Being an arborist involves working physically with trees while also navigating the pressures of human safety, and urbanisation. We become spokes people for the trees. This piece was written in one sitting, considering these conflicts of interest. It’s connected to a series of objects made from trees felled in Oslo.” ⁠_ Zoe Jo ⁠ Arborist and designer-maker Zoe Jo (she/they) reflects on the friction between human safety and the lives of city trees. Written in one sitting, this text is part of a broader project involving objects made from trees felled in Oslo — quiet witnesses to urbanisation and resilience.⁠ ⁠. Voice: Željko Maksimović Mixing & Mastering: Bojan Palikuća . This is the Forest Encounters Podcast — a space for poetic, personal, and imaginative stories that explore our entangled lives with the forest. ⁠ The podcast is produced by Out of Sight (Antwerp) in partnership with the Igor Zabel Association and Graz University of Technology. . Co-funded by the European Union and Flanders — State of the Art. ⁠ The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the EU nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. . 🔊 Thank you for listening! Don’t forget to check out other episodes of the Forest Encounters podcast. 🔗 Link in bio . ⁠ #ForestEncounters #UrbanForest #ArboristVoices #ZoeJo #ArtAndEcology #EnvironmentalStorytelling #PodcastLaunch #TreeStories #CreativeEurope #SonicEcologies

This is the final week to visit Forest Encounters at Out of Sight — and if you haven’t seen it yet, we’d really love for you to stop by. We’d be happy to welcome you into this shared forest — to wander through the works, take your time, and maybe leave with something you didn’t expect. It’s the last chance, so if you’ve been meaning to come, now’s the moment. With works by: Nayari Castillo & Reni Hofmüller, Marjolijn Dijkman, Polonca Lovšin, It Rains Differently And contributions by: Dušica Dražić, Monika Lang, Siniša Ilić, Ibis Ćerimagić, Jelena Vukićević . You can visit Thursdays and Fridays from 14:00–19:00, and Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00–18:00 at Out of Sight, Somersstraat 31, 2018 Antwerp. . The exhibition is a multidisciplinary gathering of artworks, ideas, and perspectives that explore the forest as a space of imagination, ecology, and politics. At its heart are questions that feel more and more urgent: . • What can we learn from and through the forest? • What are the actual and potential human encounters with it? • How can we coexist more harmoniously with forest ecologies? . Bringing together voices from contemporary art, forestry, and the humanities, Forest Encounters approaches the forest as more than an ecological site. It’s a dense socio-political landscape — shaped by conflicting policies, cultural narratives, and economic forces — while still a vital, breathing, biodiverse space. . Amid climate, environmental, and political urgency, the exhibition invites a rethinking of our place within the forest and beside it. Through artistic research, storytelling, film screenings, and workshops, the exhibition moves between real and imagined forests, opening space for new forms of connection. . Photo: Latifa Saber @emotional_archivist . The exhibition and parallel programme are part of the Forest Encounters project (2023–2025), co-funded by the European Union, Flanders – State of the Art, and the Austrian Cultural Forum Brussels.

As part of the FOREST ENCOUNTERS exhibition, Out of Sight and MORPHO invite you to CINEMA SESSION #2, an annual collaboration between the two organisations. Join us on Thursday, 26 June for Ruderalia — a film screening and guided walk through the neighbourhood with artist and filmmaker Joris De Rycke. In RUDERALIA , De Rycke subverts the familiar language of nature documentaries. He rejects the spectacular — no high-definition close-ups, dramatic soundtracks, or authoritative voice-overs. Instead, with quiet attentiveness and without embellishment, he turns his gaze toward, what he calls ‘banal’ nature found on the margins of highways, industrial zones, quarries, and slag heaps, places we rarely consider worthy of our attention. RUDERALIA becomes a compelling guided walk through the overlooked wilderness of Belgium, far from marked trails, information boards, or curated landscapes. It leads us across disturbed grounds and post-industrial sites, what the Latin root ruder (meaning ‘rubble’ or ‘waste’) alludes to, where nature emerges not as untouched or pure, but as an artefact shaped by past events and recent human activities. Here, plants become storytellers, revealing the chemical composition of the soil and the work of pollinators fostering hybrid species. De Rycke demonstrates that another kind of nature documentary is possible, one that is slow, grounded, and deeply reflective. Following the screening, Joris De Rycke invites the audience to join him on a walk through the immediate surroundings of our organisations. This shared walk extends the film experience into real life, moving further away from spectacle and deeper into the layered, entangled nature that we are part of today. . CINEMA SESSION #2: RUDERALIA Film screening and walk with Joris De Rycke Date: Thursday, 26 June, from 19:00-21:00 Location: Out of Sight, Somersstraat 31, 2018 Antwerpen Note: Plant Walk with Joris De Rycke is limited to 15 people. Sign-up link in bio. . Images: Ruderalia (2023) - Joris De Rycke / Film still, Courtesy of the artist