Postcards from Rewilding: Spring 𓁹‿𓁹
A face that is a million faces, a hunt that is not a hunt ~
What face does rewilding wear in spring? ・。If only I could explain, dear wildling, just how perilous the journey was to answer this for you, a secret wrapped carefully in twine by claws of code and tcp/ip… how many fluxes and flows, stops and starts, growls and hisses… including moving across a planet, from the lands I call home to a city across three nations which speaks in the tongues of four… and yet, what a treat to enter such a quest!
If there’s one thing that can be said across all our tales of rewilding this season, it is perhaps that to rewild is also to hunt. And not hunting as you might think of it, but rather a kind of capering around and messing-about in the dark unknown(s) ~ the kind where one gets extremely lost, loses a few pieces of oneself along the way, receives various gifts from wise strangers ~ and arrives, soaked and absolutely filthy, with an ear-splitting grin on the face - a bit like a chocolate labrador after a good long rolling about in a swamp.
I tell my students in Basel that we are wolves meeting in a wood - a heartfelt signalling of that special kindredness of having shared an arrival, across / amongst / despite it all - and I now include you in this, dear wildling ~ for what a gift to share a moment of mutual aliveness in this space. In this quiet clearing of the mind, I nod to you, and you to me. Something passes between us, untameable and undeniable; an owl unfurls its wings.
And so, to start, a few traces that your wolf has been thinking about on their own wanders-lately through the thickets, including rambles across Rome, Milan, Florence, London, Delhi (interview here!) and Goa: The aftermath of this immense musing on quantum entanglements with physicist River fka Karen Barad, best described as Stephen Hawking in another dimension… “everything is entangled prior to the cut”... these (neon!) words on queering monoculture… this mix by Saphileum (favourite maestro of lushly-layered ambient sonics from Tblisi, for cooking big stews with)… and this poem about Time [who thinks of us] by Jane Hirshfield (the kind that unfolds in the mind for weeks, its edges curling around your dreams).
After receiving this season’s postcards, I now feel that if Spring does wear a face, it’s not one, but rather a million faces - faces which they/she remind us we knew all along, multispecies biomes that we are. So without further ado, our latest traces from rewilding, sent by some of my dearest makers-thinkers scattered across this earth ~ brave ones who’ve swamped-about in the unknown, and lived to tell the tale. May they provide you with as much inspiration and richness as they have for me. Looking forward to hearing about your latest, too… - Kit ☾.
My process of rewilding has been a slow and tender courtship with my felt-sense. Approaching it much like a wild animal, I quiet the breath, slow like honey, I attune to its whispers, its howls and moans and it unfurls for me in its soft power; its voice speaking from the beginning of time. I flirt with my eros until it becomes alive again and I remember that I am the persimmon, the orchid, and the dew. I've been reading poetry by Christoper Sexton and musings by Ev' Yan Whitney and look forward to getting my hands in the recently thawed moist, dark, and mysterious soil. - Jess
Rewilding for me includes reclaiming Filipinx and indigenous folklore - unearthing stories of how spirits such as dwendes and aswangs, creatures feared and worshipped similar to Pagan cultures have been twisted to suit colonial/Christian worldviews. This burgeoning journey has involved deep conversations with kin about interacting with dwendes or mestiza friends, and about how loved ones are called schizophrenic for interacting with ancestors - unique spiritual experiences not easily explained by western/colonial psychology models. - Mauree
I’ve been thinking about how rewilding isn’t always loud or dramatic. Sometimes it’s just not checking the time, or letting the dog lead the way… This season, I want to rewild my attention. Give it back to the trees, to sound, to stillness. -Emanuel
I’m re-learning to phase my body/energy capacities through my woom-period cycles with the moon phases and season transitions. An exercise of eco- and inter-dependance that is bringing a sense of release and balance into my 'agenda', while helping me to attend relationships and their boundaries with tenderness and care. - Gabriela
I've been aware of how my world has been feeling smaller, filled with more fear and less joy, more no thank you than yes please, more I'm sorry I can't than oh yes I sure can...my negative voices having their way... and so I'm yet again, compassionately (hopefully) rewilding me, in the version I am now, and now, and now… - Janet
One can walk away from the garden one created and sow seeds anywhere. Your mind is fertile ground for seeds. In their own time those seeds will root, and shoot out claiming new ground and new life. - Gayatri
Thinking about how to best ensure the survival of new trees planted in local urban forests; for example, the role that the understory shrub layer plays in supporting the overstory tree layer, and how trees are affected when an invasive understory layer is removed but not replaced. A self-rewilding style of Japan exploration that will include visiting some urban, rural and abandoned destinations, and deliberate under-planning to leave room for spontaneity, exploration, and in-the-moment evolution of plans. 🃏🌳🌲 - JS
The interfaces between digital and meat spaces is something that has come up in different ways recently, as the tactility of spring expands both the mental and sensory realm. This was sparked partly by a recent workshop I attended about XR exploration through dance and other embodied forms of play. I'm organizing some summer arts events that propose mediated and creative ways to combat (or if not combat, atone for) the spiralling death of our climate. - Arman
I have been rewilding myself in the heart of Berlin spring—foraging for "Bärlauch"🌱, marveling at the iridescent "Stockenten" 🦆, and losing herself in the delicate beauty of crocuses💜. Meanwhile, I revisit historical power structures, exploring how they manifest in today’s globalisation and migration. I invite participants to join my study on neoliberal higher education and migration. - Gaoli
I finally visited R-Urban Poplar in London to learn about composting in small spaces and on balconies from Katrina Wright. But the workshop was only a welcome pretext to experience this place he heard so much about from Public Work’s Torange Khonsari. Torange worked tirelessly with the community to turn the garden into a community land trust, and push plants, events and offices for local businesses as close to commons as it gets. - Viktor
I have been hearing the call of other voices, in the leaves starting to unfurl, the birds returning and the fall of the rain. I believe it is my future being rewilded. I head to Brussels next week to extend this flirtation with spring to my colleagues and students in ReWorlding. - Ann
Been thinking about narrative, branding, onion-wrapped tcp/ip packets, making round things square, making square things round, and how much electromagnetic waves impact our electronic components. I just finished a contract for the UK Gov this week, and am still glowing from all the neat things I learned. And I got to practice my Dutch! - Vincent
I went to a fermenting lesson that was being held in a warren of artists' studios, which is also a printing collective, which used to be a library. Through sugaring and boiling and chopping and pummelling, we learned that there is no failure in fermenting as, whatever the outcome, we've created a fun party-zone for microbes to vibe around in. - Georgina
I’ve been learning about Truku culture after a – too - short yet transformational time in London with the artists involved in Hagay Dreaming, a “Techno-Fantasia Guided Theatre of Revival” directed by Taiwanese-American artist Shu Lea Cheang and Truku artist and practicing shaman Dondon Hounwn. Back in Amsterdam, spring is sour times with rye levains, and Portishead. - Jaz
I will be guiding a group of 8-10 artists and creative professionals in Berlin through a collective imagination exercise that calls for a different kind of collaboration in the arts: one that's grounded in a worldview that prioritises people, relationships, and the planet. The insights gathered from this experimental activity will contribute to my ongoing research on systemic change in the cultural sector, and my efforts to unlock the full potential of the arts in navigating an era of polycrisis. - Carmen
My most recent obsession: Magnolias. It just blows my mind how gorgeous they look when they bloom, and their flowers are only there for three weeks, so I've been on their hunt. I have recently learned in my deep dive into magnolias, that Kew scientists have partnered with Dominican Republic's Jardín Botánico Nacional to conserve Caribbean native flora and their latest project, launched in early 2024 as part of the Weston Global Tree Seed Bank program, which protects threatened magnolia cloud forests. The conservation strategy uses seed-based solutions - collecting, storing, and growing seeds to restore these forests. I hope that this season I can find a way to plant a Magnolia tree in wild. - Priscila
Yellow white, rabbit and snake, this was a dream I had in the night from 31.12 to 1.1.... das Jahr weiß ich nicht. - Susi
And with that, dearest wildlings, we send you our very warmest for the churn.
See you in the thickets,
𓁹‿𓁹
