Descendants of Fungi

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Apparently it was fungi that brought life from the ocean to the land. We live in systematic networks on several levels: the mycorrhizal fungal mycelium and root system underground; the fluvial, vegetable and technological branching on the land; the neural pathways in our bodies; the internet and the complex system of the universe. These currents are significant distributors of water, nutrients, information and energy, and are mutually similar and specific. According to the hypothesis of Terrence McKenna and his brother Dennis (the Stoned Ape Theory), which so far we can neither confirm nor dismiss, the community of proto-humans that abandoned the rainforest and dwelt on the savannah consumed magic mushrooms which grew in the faeces of domesticated animals or in a wild, natural environment, which may have deeply altered and enlarged the brains of our ancestors. However, the beginnings of today’s humans, fungi, animals, plants and various environments were entwined, mutual interactions have had an influence on the evolution of all of us. The symposium Descendants of Fungi shall trace processes of domestication and feralisation, ethology, the neuroplasticity of the brain and the influence of fungi on the soil and soil humidity. The symposium combines theoretical and physical formats, and will take place in four groups. The programme of the groups also extends beyond the time limits of the symposium and the Czech environment into online discussions, debates and podcasts. A joint programme for all groups will be a forest cinema and concert.

The format of this year’s symposium enables active engagement and assumes participation throughout the entire period of the symposium. Visitors can apply only to one of the working groups: (Non-)human environment; Water, fungi, forest; Neuroplasticity. Your children have the option of joining the Forest children’s group.

The symposium is organised without an admission fee.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓’𝒔 𝒔𝒚𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒖𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍.

It is possible that some of the registered attendees will cancel, therefore, please use the registration form bit.ly/potomcihub_sympozium2021 to be added to our waiting list. We will contact you in case any vacancies appear.

A Forest Kitchen and Bar will be open throughout the entire three days. The contribution for food and non-alcoholic drinks is 950 CZK (full price), 650 CZK (students and senior citizens) and 300 CZK (children). The menu will be vegetarian. Meals will also include coffee, tea and water. If you do not want to eat and drink in the Forest Kitchen or wish to attend only part of the symposium, please write to us at the address: les@are-events.org.

* If you have not yet been vaccinated, please make sure you are tested before your arrival at the symposium. *

All activities of the individual working groups – apart from the forest cinema and few artistic inputs within the program of the Neuroplasticity working group – will be held in Czech. Unfortunately, this year we can not coordinate English translations.

– – – SCHEDULE – – –

Friday, July 23
16:00 Arrival and accommodation
17:00 Launch of symposium by the Forest Kitchen
17:15 Programme in groups or free time
19:30 Forest Kitchen: dinner
21:30 Forest Cinema
Part I: Sugar be my caramel: Duel (directors Karolína Matušková, Lucie Zelmanová, 2020)
Říkal si Hurikán, kluk jako ty, na krku osmnáct, nesplnil slib, Už měl být s dívkou svou, jak se sešeří
(director Jan Kvíz, 2020)
Daughter Door to Door (director Dan Walvin, 2020)
Part II: Curated screening prepared by artist Vladimír Skrepl for the Neuroplasticity workshop:
Happy Happy Joy Joy – The Ren & Stimpy Show (director John Kricfalusi, 1993)
Poppy: A plant (director Titanic Sinclair, 2016)
Post Tenebras Lux (excerpt from the film, director Carlos Reygadas, 2012)
Lickerish Bear Stories: A Masterpiece (directors Kateřina Karhánková and Alexandra Májová, 2020)
Part III: Dance projection of Neuroplasticity workshop: Game of Masks (director Carlos Amorales, 2021)

Saturday, July 24
8.00-9:30 Forest Kitchen: breakfast
9:30-13:00 Programme in groups
13:00 Forest Kitchen: lunch
14:30-19:00 Programme in groups
19:30 Forest Kitchen: dinner
Forest Concert curated by Václav Belčák:
21:30 Line Gate
Concerts in the Line Gate project are built upon the base of a hurdy-gurdy drone, upon which minimalist, repetitive vocal lines are layered. In concentration, the multiple repetition of individual motifs can induce a hypnotic state in listeners, the experience of the liquid immutability of time.
22:00 timmi
Adriana Vančová aka 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖒𝖎 is a musician based in Prague. She is the curator behind the label and series of concerts 𝕽̌𝖊𝖍𝖔𝖑𝖊, which focuses on experimental electronica, noise and ambient. In her live sets she makes use of samples, keyboard instruments, field recordings and processed vocals, with the aid of which she creates protracted, intimate drones with a ✯♡☽meditative ☾atmosphere.
23:00 whydie? ( RARE ) / DJ and promoter behind the ‘one man collective’ ( RARE ), which since 2010 has held DJ nights and concerts in Prague focusing on avant-garde electronica, darkwave, post-punk and affiliated genres. He has co-operated for several years with the clubs Underdogs, Ankali, Basement and Fuchs, but also with other collectives on the Czech scene.

Sunday, July 25
8.00-9:30 Forest Kitchen: breakfast
9:30-13:00 Programme in groups
13:00 Forest Kitchen: lunch
14:30-16.00 Programme in groups
16:00-17:00 Packing, leaving

*snacks will be prepared for children during the afternoon, if the evening dinner time is too late for them; the youngest will then receive dinners first

Working groups:

I.
(NON-)HUMAN ENVIRONMENT
The working group will focus on the theme of ethology and environment for farmed and wild animals, the relationship of domesticated and wild animals and the issue of domestication and feralisation. Designs and realisations will be created for several types of inter-species and non-human dwellings for domesticated and wild animals of the WOODS. Physical work will be interspersed with lectures, debates and performances.

Detailed programme of the working group I. can be found HERE.

Guests: Lukáš Brabenec, Denisa Langrová, Michaela Marešová, Ruta Putramentaite
Organisers: Václav Belčák, Edith Jeřábková, Denisa Langrová, David Přílučík, Ruta Putramentaite, David Střeleček

II.
WATER, FUNGI, FOREST
The working group will focus on the theme of the retention capacities of the forest, infiltration of water into the soil, and in the extended theoretical field with focus in further detail on the versatility of fungi and the resourcefulness of mycorrhizal communities. The basis of each improvement of the soil is organic mass, which helps living plants retain water in the landscape. Together with Denisa Tomášková we will create compost for the WOODS from diverse ingredients and mycorrhizal tea. Compost ensures healthy growth for trees, bushes and vegetable gardens, and multiplies important organisms and microorganisms in the soil of the WOODS. These physical-theoretical activities will be alternated with lectures, discussions, zin and a concert for the forest.

Detailed programme of the working group II. can be found HERE.

Guests: Jonáš Gruska, Lukáš Senft, Denisa Tomášková, Lukáš Trakal, Daniel Vlček, Lenka Vráblíková

Organisers: Jonáš Gruska, Edith Jeřábková, Petra Pučeková, Denisa Tomášková, Lenka Vráblíková

III.
NEUROPLASTICITY
This working seminar is based on the ability of the brain to change itself and works with methods such as daydreaming, concentration, controlled rest, mirroring and repetition, which trigger the creation of new neurons and switch existing connections in our mind. The seminar shall feature practices and lectures presented by experts and artistic inputs such as curated cinema, performance, writing and virtual reality.

Detailed programme of the working group III. can be found HERE.

Guests: Anne-Claire Barriga, Palo Fabuš, Habima Fuchs, Seiko Hihara, Alice Najmanová, Nina Nohejlová, Markus Selg, Andrea Scheansová, Vladimír Skrepl, Tomáš Vaněk

Organisers: Zuzana Blochová, David Fesl, Tereza Porybná

IV.
FOREST CHILDRENS’ GROUP: Living beyond our names
The forest symposium is approaching, and with it the possibilities of meeting members of the Forest children’s group. Its goal for 2021 is to TRANSCEND THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN SPECIES. We will attempt to understand the speech of animals, fungi and plants, to listen to their desires, worries and needs, and focus on those inhabitants of the forest that we don’t usually see with the naked eye. You can look forward to walks together through the forest, collection of objects and sounds, communal dreaming, production of masks and costumes with the aim of at least a short-term transformation. The children’s forest group will prepare a programme for children, which is designed but not fixed in advance, and actively responds to the initiatives and needs of its participants. At the same time, it enables parents to take part in the programme designated rather for adults.

Detailed programme of the working group IV. can be found HERE.

Guests: Mary Čtvery, Magdalena Šipka, Hana Polanská

Organisers: Eva Koťátková, Barbora Kleinhamplová, Petra Pučeková, Lujza Srnková, Žofia Ščuroková

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➡ PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Please all bring a dish, mug, sun hat or sun shade, and also power banks. In the forest we do not have electricity or internet (for staff only). You can pitch tents and camp in the meadow by the forest, the grass will be cut. Clean water, a mobile shower, forest toilets and a fire will be available.
If you need to bring a dog with you, please bear in mind that there are other animals on the site – goats, sheep, hens and another dog (bitch), please therefore take care to ensure dogs do not run around unleashed and do not frighten other animals. Please keep your dog fully under control. Please also do not feed the sheep and goats, this could have undesirable consequences. We would also like to ask you not to enter the zones of the land that are freshly planted with trees and shrubs (especially the orchard and swale).

➡ TRANSPORT
The co-ordinates are 50.027355, 16.462956.
Map
If possible, come to the site by train – this is both more ecological and economical. For those arriving by train, we send enclosed a map of the route from Dolní Dobrouč station (along the cycle route, in the direction of Písečná and Šušek lake, approx. 40 minute walk). Approximately half way along the lake by the lay-by is a forest turn-off to the left past the cottage. Take this turn and go upwards along the footpath marked by bunting to the small gate. Continue through the gate in the direction of the tent. Please ensure the fencing is closed throughout the entire duration of the symposium due to the animals.
If you have no alternative but to travel by car, please park by the sewage plant (shown on the map). The coordinates for parking by the sewage plant are 50.03114, 16.46593. It is then approximately 10 minutes’ walk to us, go to approximately half way along the lake by the lay-by and then take the route indicated above.

➡ MEALS
A Forest Kitchen and Bar will be open throughout the entire three days. The contribution for food and non-alcoholic drinks is 950 CZK, 650 CZK (students and senior citizens) and 300 CZK (children). The menu will be vegetarian. Meals will also include coffee, tea and water. Alcoholic drinks will be available for a further contribution. You may naturally bring your own food and drink. If you do not want to eat and drink in the Forest Kitchen or wish to attend only part of the symposium, please write to us at the address: les@are-events.org.

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The symposium Descendents of Fungi is organised by WOODS – community for cultivation, theory and art in co-operation with Are and the Institute of Anxiety.

Organisational team
Curatorial concept: Zuzana Blochová, Edith Jeřábková, Barbora Kleinhamplová, Eva Koťátková, Tereza Porybná
Project leader: Tereza Porybná
Executive production: Ida Tausch, Petra Pučeková
Technical production: Štěpán Tůma
Forest Kitchen and Bar: Michal Malina & Kateřina Vídenová, Kateřina & Matěj Kočí
Co-operation and thanks: Denisa Barello, Václav Girsa, Matěj Pinkava, Petra Pučeková, Eliška Štěrbová, Adam Wlazel

Graphics (c) Daniela & Linda Dostálkovy

Photodocumentation (c) Johana Pošová

Supported by: Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, State Cultural Fund, Waterrain.