Speakers for the Living

We would like to introduce you to our first two Speakers for the Living, Anne de Andrade and Theun Karelse, who will be representing the voices and interests of more-than-human life in the decisions making processes of Zoöp Amstelpark, advising on processes with the various participating organizations and municipality. As a public Zoöp, we have decided to establish a council of Speakers for the Living which is starting with two people but can grow in the future.

What is a Speaker for the Living? 

In a Zoöp, the voices and interests of more-than-human life are actively represented by a so-called Speaker for the Living, and thus included in decision-making – at all levels. A Zoöp goes through a cyclical, iterative learning process, guarded by its Speaker for the Living, to discover step by step how the organization can become symbiotic with the ecosystems in which it participates. That process is not linear but organic. It grows.

Speakers for the Living possess basic ecological knowledge, are good with people, and know something about the working atmosphere of the Zoöp, in which they represent the interests of non-human life. However, they do not need to be able to do and know everything. Speakers for the Living are appointed by the Zoönomic Foundation and supported by the Council for the Living.

Meet the Council for the Speakers of Living in Amstelpark: 

Zoöp Amstelpark is the first public Zoöp launched by Zone2Source, a testing ground for arts and ecology in the Amstelpark, together with the municipality of Amsterdam. As a public Zoöp, we have decided to appoint a council for Speakers of the Living which accounts for different perspectives and approaches to representation. Each Zoöp has a Speaker for the Living, who represents the voices and interests of all life within the organisation from an independent position and incorporates them into decision-making. As a public Zoöp, we have chosen to establish a Council of Speakers for the Living. The first two speakers for life are Theun Karelse and Anne de Andrade.

Anne Jesuina Tobias de Andrade 

Anne is a decolonial, anti-disciplinary artist of Northern Dutch and Afro-Brazilian descent, living in Utrecht. Anne is also one of the first two Speakers for the Living in the world’s first public Zoöp: the Amstelpark in Amsterdam. Their work moves between post-activism, multispecies justice, and somatic abolitionism, and explores the relationship between worldview, emotion, embodiment, relationship, and ecology. Through writing, music, voice, moving image, and performance, they attempt to expose the invisible socio-somatic dimensions of white ‘supremacy’ culture in order to heal individual and systemic wounds and find regenerative sources for transformation and power.

Anne graduated in June 2023 from the Master’s program in Ecologies of Transformation at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. Their work has been presented at the Eye Filmmuseum, CBK Zuidoost, CC Amstel, OEROL, and the Embassy of the North Sea.

In October 2025, Anne started as a Speaker for the Living in a Dutch congregation. In 2025, Anne was initiated into the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This is part of restoring the bond with their Brazilian family and the commitment to fully embrace the decolonial visions that shape their work.

Areas of expertise: emotion, somatic abolitionism (bodily experience), transformation of internalized narratives, post-activism, multispecies justice, decoloniality, art.

Theun Karelse 

When Theun was growing up, he was interested in drawing as a way to get to know the world, in close parallel with the natural sciences. Subsequently, he studied visual arts at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam, a dispersed group of transdisciplinary laboratories operating at the intersection of art, science, nature, and everyday life. His interests and experimental practice explore the boundaries between art, the environment, and technology, using the last 10,000 years as a frame of reference.

He practices and supports ecosystem and landscape regeneration in Europe, India, and Africa. His outdoor studio consists of various gardens that serve as testing grounds for urban biodiversity, climate adaptation, and ancient knowledge systems. He is an active member of the Embassy of the Earth, part of the Future of the Delta team at the Embassy of the Northsea, and Speaker for the Living at Creative Coding Urecht. He has been a long time collaborator with Zone2Source on the Machine Wilderness program.