in, around, through, from the Pasture 🏇
Inspired by the ubiquity of horses along the trail, we began to take an interest in the concept of “horsification”, a dynamic in the Flemish countryside where farms and their adjacent agricultural lands are turning into residential villas and horse meadows, causing land prices to rise sharply. At the same time, the few operative farms still existing in the area house a much larger number of animals that remain invisible in the landscape.
As a collective exploring contemporary agriculture and its marginalised voices, we turned our attention to the animals living in the region —those visible, and those kept out of sight. We observed which creatures roam freely and where access is curtailed, and, in conversation with the people of Zwalm—those living with or from farm animals—uncovered a range of reasons behind these boundaries. From hygiene regulations to protection from predators, the motivations are varied, and each draws its own line across the land.
How can the territorial practices of animals reveal unbalanced ways of accessing land ?
During our monthly walks, we saw sheep’s wool stuck in the barbed wire, observed pigs making nests in the pigsty, listened to chickens in the run, and smelled horse manure along the pasture. Drawing from how animals state their presence–by leaving traces or producing sounds, we create spatial interventions that stage different forms of access to the land, wishing to reveal the absentees and the hidden.
The project is a response to an invitation of Plan B to create a collective artwork to be shown during the festival Kunst&Zwalm in August 2025, based on a yearlong observation of the landscape of Zwalm.
More information: website Kunst&Zwalm︎︎︎
As a collective exploring contemporary agriculture and its marginalised voices, we turned our attention to the animals living in the region —those visible, and those kept out of sight. We observed which creatures roam freely and where access is curtailed, and, in conversation with the people of Zwalm—those living with or from farm animals—uncovered a range of reasons behind these boundaries. From hygiene regulations to protection from predators, the motivations are varied, and each draws its own line across the land.
How can the territorial practices of animals reveal unbalanced ways of accessing land ?
During our monthly walks, we saw sheep’s wool stuck in the barbed wire, observed pigs making nests in the pigsty, listened to chickens in the run, and smelled horse manure along the pasture. Drawing from how animals state their presence–by leaving traces or producing sounds, we create spatial interventions that stage different forms of access to the land, wishing to reveal the absentees and the hidden.
The project is a response to an invitation of Plan B to create a collective artwork to be shown during the festival Kunst&Zwalm in August 2025, based on a yearlong observation of the landscape of Zwalm.
More information: website Kunst&Zwalm︎︎︎