Sites of…Practice

Sites of…Practice is yearly programme supporting new practices in response to the polycrisis curated by Lucia Pietroiusti (Head of Ecologies, Serpentine London), Helen Turner (Artistic Director, E-WERK Luckenwalde), curator Nada Rosa Schroer, hosted by E-WERK Luckenwalde and commissioned by Arising Quo. 

Sites Of…Practice responds to an emergent field of art- and design-led experiments in site-specific, alternative organisational models. Working across pedagogy, cultural production, agriculture, social design and environmental repair. These sites bring together organisational and ecological thinking to move beyond awareness-raising. These are spaces where artists, culture-makers, political and ecological thinkers are gathering, building, making and creating while remaining responsive to their specific contexts. Rather than making work “about” climate and ecology, these sites are working with land-based contexts to work with and for the climate and their communities - to have greater preparedness and resilience in the face of climate change and the poly-crisis. The “…” in the project title refers to the myriad ways in which these sites are experimenting with different forms of practice. As such, the project’s title is infinitely changeable: Sites of (rooted, situated, reciprocal, reparative, systemic, collective) practice may, and will, emerge. Responding to a commission – an enquiry question – from Arising Quo, Sites of…Practice supports exchanges between a cohort of small-scale organisations across Europe.

Each Site will receive a grant of 10,000 euros to support capacity-building organisational efforts; a programme of mentored skills exchange and workshops in environmental infrastructure, business planning, visioning, strategy and fundraising. Sites of… will support participants to be in relationship with each other, to exchange, learn and deepen practice, so as to become more widely recognised as an emerging field. In Spring 2025, Sites of… will present a retreat for the cohort, public symposium, announcement of Year 2’s cohort and the publication of a strategic report focused on strategies for supporting this emergent field, aimed at both those who support and seek support. The first cohort of Sites of… is:

Vessel (Greece) a collective studio, arts and event space with a core interest in ecology, resilience, and co-education. Estudio Nuboso (Panama) a platform dedicated to restoring the relationship between humans and nature and creating greater reciprocity with the planet. The Institute for Postnatural Studies (Spain) a centre for artistic experimentation, which explores and problematizes postnature as a framework for contemporary creation. Katzenwedelwiese (Germany) an alter-institutional project born during the exhibition Critical Zones at ZKM, Karlsruhe, developed by artist and ecologist Stéphane V. Bottéro to rethink the role of cultural institutions in the context of accelerating climate change and the collapse of the biosphere. Cuerpoterritorio (Spain) a cultural association which promotes artistic expression and eco-social awareness through an eco-feminist perspective by materializing values of care towards human and more than human communities. ARE (Czech Republic) a curatorial organization, which purchased a 2.8 hectare plot of forest in the Orlické Mountains, to establish a sustainable biodiverse forest, animal refuge and garden founded on permaculture principles and cultural outdoor events. Mustarinda Association (Finland) a non-profit group of artists and researchers, whose goal is to promote the ecological rebuilding of society, the diversity of culture and nature, and the connection between art and science. 

Lucia Pietroiusti is Head of Ecologies at Serpentine, London. As a curator, programmer and organisational strategist, she works at the intersection of art, ecology and systems, often outside of the exhibition space. Helen Turner is the Co-Artistic Director and Chief Curator of E-WERK Luckenwalde, a founding member of Gallery Climate Coalition Berlin, and Advisory board member of Urbane Künste Ruhr. Nada Rosa Schroer is an independent curator and researcher, who regularly collaborates with CCA Temporary Gallery, where she curated the programmes “Curating Transformation: Allyship - Degrowth - Grounding” and “Towards Permacultural Institutions“ (both w/ Aneta Rostkowska).

Arising Quo is a wealth redistribution initiative in its early days of exploring where and how to resource work that scaffolds us out of current systems - towards subterranean worlds and liberatory futures - and into new, post capitalist paradigms. Arising Quo is currently resourcing explorations that orient us towards places, practices and horizons we need to pay greater attention to. 

For media information: Nicola Jeffs, nj [​at​] nicolajeffs.com