Museums and platforms: join the Welcome to the Parliament of Things Manifestation

Climate change forces us to think about the relationship between man and nature. Many public venues and museums are working on this awareness. By joining forces we can increase the impact of all these initiatives. We therefore invite podia and museums throughout the Netherlands to join the Welcome to the Parliament of Things Manifestation.

Public venues, art institutes and natural history or technology museums can join the manifestation by seeking inspiration, for example in the educational programme for schoolchildren and students. In collaboration with Building Conversations we will be organising student parliamentary sessions, during which we will call upon the students to try to empathise with the interests of the residents of the North Sea – plankton, crabs, fishing nets, fishermen and oil platforms. There is also a ‘menu’ with a variety of activities. For example:

  • Sessions of the Parliament of the North Sea or of another local area (of nature);
  • Lectures and discussion evenings based on the ideas of Latour in relation to sustainability, the rights of nature and the representation of non-humans;
  • Design afternoons and evenings, some with a competition element;
  • Essay writing competition: contestants will be asked to write a short essay defending the interests of a non-human;
  • Exhibitions, perhaps in collaboration with (students of) a university (of technology);
  • A workshop by one of the artists from the Embassy of the North Sea imagination programme.

These activities should preferably be held between 16 and 24 November 2020.

We will be delighted to help you get in touch with expert speakers and debate guides, inspiring artists or people experienced in offering a variety of work forms. We will also be happy to contribute ideas on attracting local and regional grant funding. Naturally, all these activities will be given increased visibility in the national communication campaign in the runup to the public programme in November.

For more information, please contact: Esther Didden, edidden@spinozalens.nl or by calling +31(0)6 247 428 47.