Alma Heikkilä. Evolved in shared relationships

Alma Heikkilä. Evolved in shared relationships
& Erfgoed (Agricultural Heritage and Land Use)
15.09.2018 - 11.11.2018

In what ways do we [humans] imagine, think about, and interact with the interdependence of microbial life, and how might we newly encounter “knowing” in our human–non-human entanglements toward a different way of living?

Erfgoed (Agricultural Heritage and Land Use)

Collective exhibition in partnership with The Outsiders and with contributions by Maria Stijger Aramburu, Bart Broeze, Britt Dorenbosch, Manne Heijman, Dohee Lee, Mr and Mrs Lin, Avan Omar, Dounia El Ouardani, Dineke Oudwijk, Leonardo Siqueira, Iet and Kees van Vuuren, Hinke Weikamp, Kesewah Ye-boah, Merel Zwarts.

A large farmhouse on the remaining plot of a once-vast farmland has been neglected for over a decade until now. Located in the middle of a new urban-residential area, the farmhouse is now seen as a part of Utrecht’s agricultural heritage. Who will decide on its future and for what?

Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons presents its first biannual exhibition program at its headquarters with Evolved in shared relationships, a solo exhibition by Finnish artist Alma Heikkilä, and Erfgoed (Agricultural Heritage and Land Use), a collective exhibition for the eponymous project running at the Terwijde farmhouse. Our exhibitions open on Saturday, 15 September in conjunction with Uitfeest, the lively, two-day celebration of the new cultural season in Utrecht. Both exhibitions are organized as part of the long-term project and study line Center for Ecological (Un)learning by Casco Art Institute and the Leidsche Rijn-based interdisciplinary collective The Outsiders, and deal with one of the most fundamental dimensions of the commons: ecology.

With her new mixed-media installations, Alma Heikkilä presents us with an opportunity to sense and imagine the mostly invisible microorganisms that are within and around us, while a group of artists and neighbors of the Terwijde farmhouse harvest all of the farmhouse activities from the last spring and summer to collectively reanimate the farmhouse as a site for the commons – not only for the humans but also for other non-human actors. We have faced the consequences of climate change directly and physically this summer, so understanding our ecological sphere and responding accordingly feels more urgent than ever. We hope that these double exhibitions and the program around it provide such a possibility!