Museum of Natural History · 22 November, 11:50
The Soil Assembly brings together artists, designers, curators, architects, educators, activists, farmers, and hackers is to reunite people and to support the freedom of exchange of knowledge on soil practices. It is an active dissemination of a humanistic/ biodiverse/ holistic approach within notions of agriculture, food sovereignty and land cultivation. It is a desire in these times of diminished freedom of speech and exchange, to stay aligned with a geopolitical/international structure without implicating strict methodologies or an organisational structure. The Soil Assembly asks how to share the commons and how to create a network or syndicate that fosters practices of cooperation, community or collectivity in a social and political way, especially with those that are multilateral and which provide mutual benefit to all of those involved.
Maya Minder studied Art history at the University of Zurich and MA Fine Arts at Zurich University of Arts. Her research based practice circles around the topics of food stories, evolutionary biology and relational aesthetics within practices of cooking, biohacking, performance and media based installations. Her aim is to share collective storytelling and embodiment of knowledge within ecological thinking. She is part of Hackteria and founder of the Open Science Lab in ZW Zurich. She is also a founding member of the Soil Assembly and part of the Fungi Cosmology project, an art/science based exchange between Brazil, Chile and Switzerland initiated by Pro Helvetia, South America. Exhibitions, workshops and conferences at: ISEASeoul 2025, South Korea, Kanazawa 21st Ce Museum, Japan, TIME, Kunsthaus Zurich, Switzerland, Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland, Jeu de Paume, France, Swissnex Osaka, Japan, Floating University, Germany. Nominations, Awards and Residencies: Art Explora, Kadist, Pax Award, Swiss Art Awards. (150 words)