Last year, the RICH research group Environmental Humanities successfully applied for a Seed Action Grant that was awarded by the Radboud Centre for Sustainability Challenges.
The group (co)organizes a series of events for Radboud students and colleagues and reaches out to the wider Nijmegen-area community as well. All RICH researchers are welcome to join for the events (pre)announced here below, the upcoming Creative Writing Workshop (7 March), a guest lecture and screenings (9 March) and the opening of the Exhibition (9 April) in particular.
Since soil and water are both understood as direct, material forces and hold cultural and imaginative power as well, these elements offer a unique opportunity to ‘get our feet wet and dirty’ and to invite artists, film makers and curators to bring materials and imagination together to build creative narratives. By holding events and curating an exhibition in a local cultural space (International Drawing Center) and by working with local and (inter)national artists and art studios, we aim to connect to the regional community. The elemental pathways we propose catalyze ecological and long-term reflection, promote communities of care and cure and resonate with the RCSC Manifesto’s pleas for climate justice, planetary health and care for the more-than-human.
Upcoming events
Creative writing workshop Water & Soil
Saturday 7 March 2026, 2-5 PM
Location: International Drawing Center (IDC), Papengas 6 in Nijmegen, 2-5 PM.
The stories about soil and water to be narrated will inform the 24-hour comic event taking place a week later. Stories may be told in either English or Dutch.
During the weekend of 14-15 March, six renowned international comic artists will work 48 hours to draw stories on this topic. It is possible that one or more stories from the creative writing session are translated into a published comic. In addition, some stories might also be recorded in a soundscape along the Waalkade, scheduled for May / June.
Participation is possible (on a first come first serve basis) by filling out this Google Form.
Documenting Nonhuman Encounters III – guest lecture and screenings by Ana Pérez-Bravo
Monday 9 March, 11 AM – 3 PM
Location: LUX, room 6
Ana Bravo-Pérez, a Colombian artist and filmmaker based in Amsterdam, whose artistic practices bring together ecocritical, decolonial, and (eco)feminist perspectives, will talk about her work. This session will include screenings of a selection of her documentary projects, including Mother Earth’s Inner Organs (IDFA 2022) which addresses the colonial and ecological dimensions of coal mining from Colombia to Europe. The session is part of the BA course Moving Documentaries and will be organized by our colleagues Marileen La Haije, Jeroen Boom and László Munteán.
There is room for more participants, both students and researchers. Participation is free of charge, but registration is mandatory via marileen.lahaije [at] ru.nl (marileen[dot]lahaije[at]ru[dot]nl).
Opening Exhibition Soil and Water: Elemental Narratives
Thursday 9 April 2026, 4 PM
Location: International Drawing Center (IDC), Papengas 6 Nijmegen
More details will be announced later.