The Amstelpark is home to no less than three artist gardens by Zone2Source that are managed and activated by artist collective de Onkruidenier, Genomic Gastronomy and artist Theun Karelse. Here, the garden is not only an inspiration for artists but gardening is used as an artistic practice from a desire to reshape our connection to the earth and everything that lives there. Questions are raised here such as: what is the garden of the future, as it gets drier and warmer? And what is gardening if we learn to understand that the garden is the creation of many lives that spend time in it with us? How can we move from control and domination to seeing the garden as a place of care and consideration for each other? Join us at an artist’s garden in Amstelpark, experimenting and speculating with gardening for the future.

Speculative Botany in the Shadow Garden

During a Speculative Botany workshop, you will visit the Shadow Garden together with the artists of collective De Onkruidenier. Here we move in the shadow of the plants, organisms, soil, earth systems and hidden knowledge we bring to light. This former walled Belgian monastery garden is one of Amsterdam’s hottest spots. Here, artists explore what our urban biotope will look like as the climate zone shifts 13 metres north-eastwards every day and we will be living in the current Paris climate zone 50 years from now. In the Shadow Garden, therefore, you will find mostly heat-loving plants, species we will see more and more of in the future. In the Speculative Botany workshop, get inspired by the stories hidden in the garden and design your own new plant we can work with to adapt to the climate conditions of the future.

The Future of Food in the Genomic Gastronomy Garden

In the Genomic Gastronomy Garden, artists explore the history and future, technology and ecology, of our food systems. Here you will also find Satelite Seed Savers, a dome of willow branches around which seeds that once went into space are raised. In the middle of the park, edible plants are grown, in collaboration with food forests around Amsterdam, such as berries, beans and salad. Not only humans, but also snails really like these. What is it like, living together with so many kinds of plants, funghi, insects, animals and people? What does it mean to eat and be eaten? In this workshop, we will explore garden biodiversity through observations, drawing and the help of AI and learn more about cohabitation with our food.

Otterdam and the animal as guide

In 2021, after half a century of absence, the otter reappeared on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Artist Theun Karelse created Otterdam, a water garden for the otter, in the Amstelpark pond. Here he asks: is this iconic freshwater animal a harbinger of change? We may include birds, insects and other creatures in our management of our parks, gardens and green spaces in the city, but the arrival of the otter feels like a game-changer. What would our green-blue spaces look like if we take the otter as our guide to a vibrant city? In an exploration of swamp gardening – which we are hardly familiar with in the Netherlands despite all our water – we explore, together with Theun Karelse, what happens when, as in many indigenous cultures, we learn from animals how to better tune in to our habitat. Perhaps the otter is a much better guide to the future than humans?