Het Amstelpark - de bomen vertellen hun verhaal
 
Project
 
Livinglab
 
Parliament
 
Trial
 
Essay
ENNL
On the south side of the Amstelpark (Amsterdam, NL), in the presence of the trees, stands the Parliament of Trees. This contemplative installation explored ways to step out of the dualistic thinking (still prevalent, particularly in the West) about the human-nature relationship. What does it mean to put nonhuman entities such as trees at the center of thought and action? What does it mean to be in dialogue with our non-human environment?

In collaboration with environmental lawyers Jessica den Outer and Jan van de Venis, various artists, and secondary schools St. Nicolaaslyceum and ALASCA, this thinking is explored through public lectures and teaching programs. Also, artist Elmo Vermijs together with poet Gershwin Bonevacia, musician Thijs van Vuure, and dancer Kenzo Kusuda investigated how trees can be represented and given a voice. How can trees’ right to exist be given a place in our system?

  

This resulted in the Trial in the park – trees speak out on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022, where trees became legal persons and in legal as well as artistic ways, represented and held local polluters accountable.

 

Parliament of Trees consists of 46 tree trunks and 57 planks, borrowed for the occasion from the local sawmill Stadshout. After the conclusion of the project, the borrowed trunks and planks have been returned to Stadshout for further processing.