WOODS – Community for Cultivation, Theory and Art

Woods – Community for Cultivation, Theory and Art is a space linking creation, research, agricultural work, activism, and rest. With a vision of sharing and communal development, a 2.8-hectare plot of forest and meadow was purchased for these goals in 2019 in the village of Hnátnice in the Orlické Mountains. The purpose of the community is to create a sustainable biodiverse forest amenable to a wide variety of life forms from microorganisms, bacteria, plants, mushrooms, and animals all the way to humans. A farm is gradually being created on the plot, as is a garden founded on permaculture principles and a year-long program of educational and cultural activities.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The project is actively responding to climate change and the accelerating processes associated with it: the degradation of agricultural and forest land and soil, growing drought, and the extinction of small animals. It is also responding to the need to maintain a healthy relationship between the land and those who use it. It is being implemented on the basis of permaculture principles; uses sustainable forms of agriculture, forestry, and water management; and covers the topics of migration, diet, psychology, health, the intelligence of animals, plants, and mushrooms, resistance, and sharing.

We would like to gradually change the ways in which the countryside is used for agriculture, forestry, and leisure activities, moving towards a more interconnected relationship between the land and the people in it. We want to share together new findings on sustainable agriculture and existence in the countryside and encourage the start of similar activities that could, in the future, confront the degradation, caused by monoculture agriculture of not just our rural areas but of the planet as well. In an era of increasing drought, it will also be necessary to reevaluate ways of handling the land and realize the consequences of soil erosion and the dying off of insects, birds, small mammals, and more—which will ultimately even harm the health of us humans. We also want to bring permaculture and ethical principles of land use to the artistic and cultural sphere and our whole lifestyle. By sharing and collaborating with local and artistic communities, we aim to fight against the loss of diversity of flora and fauna on the planet, in the soil, and in the gut. We aim to accomplish this through active care for the land, academic studies, and joint actions of all types and orientations, both for the community and for the public.

PREVIOUS PROGRAM
2022
– implementing permaculture design
– artistic and educational actions: residencies, symposia, permaculture courses, 5P permaculture working meetings, animal protection, a library

2021
– Mycorrhizal Encounters I–IV: an online series of moderated discussion with artists, activists and researchers who work with the versatility of fungi and the resourcefulness of mycorrhizal communities, October – December, 2021
– Natural Gardening Workshop with Petra Formánká and Jarmila Řezníčková, November 11, 2021
– Summer symposium: Descendants of Fungi, July 23–25, 2021
– drilling a well
– An advanced full course in permaculture design with Denisa Tomášková, June 11–27, 2021
– Course in permaculture design for begginners with Denisa Tomášková, Kafka’s studio, Prague, May 8–9, 2021

2020
– creating an edible forest under the direction of Denisa Tomášková, instructor at the Permaculture Academy, October 2020 – March 2021
– Marek Meduna: Resist Like Woods; a film from the second edition of the summer symposium, 2020
– 5P – Planting of trees and bushes in a swale, October 9–11, 2020
– Summer symposium: Resist Like Woods, the second edition of summer symposium focused on the possibility of defending the soil, soil and land communities, and civic activism in the era of climate emergency, July 31–August 2, 2020
– establishing a pasture for goats and sheep, June–July 2020
– Course in Advanced Permaculture Design, June 19–23, 2020

2019
– Marek Meduna: WE ARE WOODS: The Intelligence of Plants and Interspecies Communication; a film from the first edition of summer symposium, 2019
– Summer symposium: WE ARE WOODS: The Intelligence of Plants and Interspecies Communication, first edition of the summer symposium about the woods as a communicating and cooperating community of organisms of different species, July 26–28, 2019
– Course in permaculutre design: The edible forest and water management, lectured by Denisa Tomášková, May 18–19, 2019

2018
– Open rescue of animals, since 2018

COMMUNITY
The community project Woods was initiated by Are and the Institute of Anxiety. Other contributors include artists, ecologists, activists, specialists from the Permaculture Academy, local residents, members of the association Žijeme spolu v Orlických horách (We Live Together in the Orlické Mountains), and organizations Bubahof and Ovenecka 33.

Current implementing team
Zuzana Blochová, Edith Jeřábková, Barbora Kleinhamplová, Nela Klajbanová, Eva Koťátková, Dita Lamačová, Tereza Porybná, Ida Taušlová

Woods members
Terézia Belčáková, Václav Belčák, Jana Adamcová and Jakub Adamec, Lenka Vítková, Ondřej Vinš, Václav Girsa, Jiří Kovanda, David Fesl, Marie Lukáčová, Filip Kraus, Dominik Lang, Eva Koťátková, Anna Ročňová, Jan Boháč, Lucie Rosenfeldová, Matěj Pavlík, Jakub Červenka, Tereza Porybná, Borbarla Soos, Teresa Castro, Kateřina Svatoňová, Atanasios Iliopulos, Barbora Kleinhamplová, Vít Lesák, Adéla Sobotková, Noemi Purkrábková, Jiří Sirůček, David Střeleček, Denisa Langrová, Jonáš Richter, Ruta Putramentaite, Dita Lamačová, Nela Klajbanová, Markus Selg, Edith Jeřábková, Zuzana Blochová, Gabriel Baharlia, Mariana Serranová, Andrea Medunová and Marek Meduna, Pavlína Verbíková and Mirek Verbík, Marcela Musilová and Jiří Musil, Vojtěch Novák, Daniela and Linda Dostálková, Nadja Argyropoulou, Chris Vrettos, Iria Vrettou and Tassos Vrettos, Linda Hauerová, Táňa Nikulina, Kristina Fingerland, Olbram Pavlíček, Martin Zet, Markéta Lisá, Filip Cenek, Jan Kolský, Monika Krobová, Petr Vyhnálek, Denisa Tomášková, Nikolas Prokop, Jakob Ráček, Eliška Plechatová, Aliaksandra Yakubouskaya, Markéta Brandejsová, Matěj Verbík, Anetta Mona Chisa, Aleksandra Vajd, Adam Wlazel, Kateřina Vídenová, Tereza and Jaroslav Petruželka, Zdeněk Habarta, Dan Hrabina, Monika Štěpánová, Maja and Reuben Fowkes, Barbora Janečková, Roman Kašťák, Eva Jiřička, Lucie Fryčová, Lucie Doležalová, Lenka Kužvartová, Lukáš Hofmann, Matouš Lipus

Woods is an open group of people. If you are interested in joining the community, contact us at les@are-events.org.

CONTACT
les@are-events.org
Facebook

Woods – Community for Cultivation, Theory and Art
Forest and meadow plot between the villages of Hnátnice and Písečná, Orlické Mountains
Coordinates:
Meadow 50.027355, 16.462956
Forest 50.027306, 16.461111

THANKS AND SUPPORT
Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, State Fund of Culture, GTL, Atanasios Iliopulos, SolidSun, Emblem Hotel.