BOOK:Soils-Van Abbemuseum

The title “Soils” derives from the “Four Soils” conceptualized by the Palestinian writer and mathematician Munir Fasheh. They are earth soil, cultural soil, communal soil, and affection-spiritual soil. These are the soils that humans must nurture so that the soils can nurture all life on the planet in return. Cultural and artistic forms can help this nurturing by making it tangible and desirable. At its best, art helps people build relationships with each other without flattening the differences of identity, geography and history. It can link people back to the soils on which they stand, to the uniqueness of their places and to the whole ecosystem that is life’s support system. The “Soils Project” has been in development since 2018. An international collaboration between three organisations, and several artists, curators, writers and activists, the project has manifested in various iterations over several years including a three-part public webinar series titled “The Soils Project: groundwork”, and a two-week workshop, titled “The Soils Project: On Country”, for participating curators and artists. With a curatorium comprising arts workers from TarraWarra Museum of Art, the Van Abbemuseum, and Struggles for Sovereignty, the project’s approach seeks and facilitates opportunities to listen to diverse voices and perspectives around notions of caring for land, soil and sovereign territories.-Efi Michalarou