About us

Seasonal Neighbours examines the ongoing material and social transformations of rural life, particularly by paying attention to agricultural practices, the food chain, climate, and seasonal labour migration.

The collective, based in the EU, brings together artists, designers, chefs, writers and architects whose practices touch on aspects of seasonality, temporary cohabitation, cultural memory, and practices of belonging.

We share a methodology of learning-by-doing and strive for a practice of neighbouring*. The collaboration results predominantly in site-specific interventions, rituals, audiovisual works and other forms, engaging us with places and their inhabitants.

The collective regularly exchanges with other stakeholders, researchers, and organisations. For more information on our extensive network of friends and colleagues, please visit: Friends︎︎︎.


* Neighbouring, some collective thoughts in development

a social negotiation

you cannot be a neighbor without the presence of an other

different than family, than friends

also between countries

you don’t choose your neighbours

about boundaries and thresholds

people, animals and plants

there is a distance

there are dependencies

a practice of caring together (like in Norway when a village displaces a barn together)

neighbourships

a methodology

inhabiting each others’ spaces

reassessing the living spaces

you build a relationship with something

actions that are not planned

uncontrollable

the discomfort that comes with it

it has to do with presence

understanding needs

giving space

a question

the possibility of something like “fragmented neighboring”?

when constantly moving in and out of spaces

longing for a neighbour

rituals of arrival (washing the floor by hand as a practice of re-familiarizing)

seeking for knowledge about where you ‘land’

aspect of care - of prolonging a relationship (wood table maintenance)

History

House for Seasonal Neighbours, early exploration (2017-2018)

Seasonal Neighbours was founded in 2017 by Ciel Grommen. Her fascination for unusual forms of cohabitation led to a dialogue with Polish and Bulgarian seasonal workers in her hometown Borgloon; a group that makes up 1/5th of the population there in the summer. This personal experience, which started from working side-by-side during the fruit-picking season, was further explored in 2018. Together with Maximiliaan Royakkers, they realised the artistic intervention: “House for Seasonal Neighbours”, and with Dieter Leyssen academic research was explored on seasonal migration in Europe. 


Our Invisible Hands, a collective research endeavor (2021-2023)

In 2021, the coronavirus measurements made the dependency of our food markets on migrant labor painstakingly visible. Supported by z33, Maximiliaan and Ciel launched a call to artists, designers, and social scientists to join the research project.

An international 16-member group was formed consisting of Karolina Michalik (PL), Claire Chassot (FR/CH), Collectif dallas (Salomon and Camille) (FR/BE), Vanessa Brazeau (CA), Anastasia Eggers (GE/R), Mona Thijs (BE), Ewoud Vermote (BE), Ioana Lupașcu (RO), Ines Marita Schaerer (CH), Ode Windels (BE), Pia Jacques (BE), Yacinth Pos (NL), Jonathan de Maeyer (BE), Maximiliaan Royakkers (BE) and Ciel Grommen (BE). 

All participants started with a fieldwork experience as a seasonal laborer somewhere in an agricultural farm in Europe. A collective exchange of two years resulted in 11 different research trajectories that manifested in various in-situ interventions around Flanders and the Netherlands.
Trajectories︎︎︎

All have been presented in "Our Invisible Hands", an exhibition in z33, center for art, design and architecture in Hasselt (Belgium) from January until April 2022, curated by Ils Huygens and Annelies Thoelen. 
Exhibition︎︎︎

The publication, "Seasonal Matters, Rural Relations", published by Onomatopee in June 2024 and edited by Ils Huyghens and Anastasia Eggers, draws connections between the different trajectories of “Our Invisible Hands” in a variety of graphic formats. Besides these, interviews and essays link them to interesting voices in the larger debate about the contemporary countryside, inspiring for a new phase in our collective collaboration.
Book︎︎︎


Seasonally Neighbouring (2024 - ...)

Today Seasonal Neighbours still functions as a hybrid collective, with many temporary collaborators and seven active members.
Biographies︎︎︎

We continue to explore our practice of neighbouring, amongst others by building up relations with five places across Europe. Each of these places is rural, and each is connected to a member of our group who holds a specific role or relationship to the land—one of agency rather than ownership. While each location has unique characteristics and challenges, they all provide fertile ground for exploring themes of cohabitation, fractured belonging, and (post)seasonality.

Contact

seasonal.neighbours@gmail.com
instagram︎︎︎
facebook︎︎︎

For our individual contacts, interests and backgrounds:
Biographies︎︎︎

Support

The collective projects of Seasonal Neighbours have been made possible by the generous support of the Flemish Government, Z33 and Grensverleggers (scheme to support cultural collaborations between parties in Flanders, the Province of North Brabant, the Province of Limburg and the Province of Zeeland).

Within the individual trajectories we partnered with organisations like Ar-Tur, Kunstenplatform PLAN B, Fransmansmuseum Koekelare, vrije radio Wellen, witloofmuseum Kampenhout, CC De Bogaard Sint-Truiden and we received the financial support of Vocatio Fund, the Creative Industries Fund NL and many crowdfunders...