Zone2Source at Soil Assembly in Kochi, India

This January Zone2Source’s Alice Smits was invited to the Soil Assembly in Kochi-India, where there is the Kochi Biennial. Soil Assembly is an emergent trans-local network that organises assemblies to foster soil health literacy by bringing together local stakeholders, artists, scientists, and communities to experiment with creative, participatory approaches.

Mobilising art and science open labs, artist farms, permaculture communities, non-formal education initiatives, and art and design schools, the project explores new ways of learning rooted in ecological awareness and creativity.

A Soil Assembly is both an event and a living lab rooted in its territory—a space where soil as material and property of life reveals the interdependence of ecological, cultural, and social dynamics, shaping local identity and resilience. Each assembly treats soil as both an ecological foundation and a cultural connector.

Alice Smits prepared a talk for the first day of the Assembly which you can watch here.