(for tickets, click here)
Under the title Animal Horizons, Filipa Ramos (PT, writer and curator), Mara-Daria Cojocaru (DE, philosopher and poet) and Chris Julien (NL, climate philosopher, writer and activist) will reflect on our relationship with the more-than-human world in times of global crisis, led by moderator Zoë Dankert (NL, writer and art critic).
The occassion for this in-depth programme is the exhibition The Herd at the Watering Hole by German artist Lin May Saeed (1973-2023), which is on view from 11 May to 24 August 2025 at Kasteel Wijlre estate. With this exhibition – the first museum presentation of Saeed's work in the Netherlands – Kasteel Wijlre estate underlines its ambition to programme internationally acclaimed artists who reflect on the complex relationship between humans and nature.
Saeed's work offers an empathetic and hopeful view of the relationship between humans and animals. Her sculptures and reliefs depict animals as sovereign beings, full of personality and agency. Saeed felt strongly connected to animal rights activism, and used the domain of imagination to affectively draw attention to ethical and ecological issues.
Animal Horizons
During the Expert Session, an international panel of speakers will address themes that arise in Saeed's work. Where can we find inspiration for a more sustainable relationship to the more-than-human world? How does our ecological thinking develop in relation to other critical discourses that seek alternatives to traditional Western narratives of progress? What role can art and the imagination play in this, in a time of global crisis in which the call for action is becoming increasingly loud?
Speakers
Mara-Daria Cojocaru (DE, 1980) is a philosopher, award-winning German poet and hobby zoologist passionate about human-animal relations, especially with wild animals. She is a fellow at the People Animals and Nature think tank and curates Philosophy in the Wild, a global public philosophy and poetry project. After decades of academic work, she now shares her animalinformed philosophy and multispecies poetry on Substack.
Chris Julien (AUS/NL, 1982) is a climate philosopher, writer and activist. In addition to working in front of and behind the scenes at Extinction Rebellion, he gives presentations to motivate people to take action. He is the author of, among other things, Alledaags Activisme (2024), in which he shows that it is precisely in the everyday that there are possibilities for system change.
Filipa Ramos (PT) is an internationally renowned writer and curator focusing on the intersection of contemporary art, nature and ecology. Her recent projects include BESTIARI, the Catalan presentation at the 60th Venice Biennale (2024) and Songs for the Changing Seasons, the first Vienna Climate Biennale. She also organizes the festival around more-than-human consciousness The Shape of a Circle in the Mind of a Fish (since 2018, with Lucia Pietroiusti).
Moderator: Zoë Dankert (NL, 1994) is a poet and art critic. Her poetry was published in Dutch poetry magazine Het Liegend Konijn. Essays, reviews and interviews of Dankert have appeared in Boekman, De Witte Raaf, Metropolis M and NRC, among others.
Program
14:00-14:15 welcome & introduction by Xander Karskens (director of Kasteel Wijlre estate and curator of The Herd at the Watering Hole)
14:15-15:15 introduction and short presentations by speakers
15:15-15:30 break
15:30-16:15 panel discussion moderated by Zoë Dankert
16:15-16:45 Q&A and closing remarks
16:45-18:00 drinks
Tickets
€ 20,- / € 10,- (students)