W 31 / Plant Life in the City

Join us for an afternoon of exploring urban nature in Pardubice.

We’ll begin with approximately one hour of walking and identifying plant life – from towering trees to tiny plants growing between the cracks in the pavement. Along the way, we’ll collect materials and observations to use in a collaborative creative session.

The second part of the workshop will focus on documentation and collective production for a zine.

Participants will have the opportunity to creatively translate what we've seen and learned onto paper, experimenting with eco-printing, simple printmaking, and zine-making techniques.

Bring your knowledge, your stories, and your curiosity – and reconnect with nature through this collective experience. You’re welcome to bring drawing tools or a notepad, though these are not required. Expect about an hour of walking.

The guides will be Valentina Astudillo and Elena Wise.

More information and registration (optional but appreciated): sarka@offcity.cz 

Valentina Astudillo is a woodworker raised in the mountains of Chile and currently based in rural eastern Germany. She is interested in trees and plants—their traditional, medicinal, and craft uses—and in the ways people connect to them.

Elena Wise is an independent curator, researcher, and textile craftsperson. Her work engages with craft techniques and cultural memory to address social issues and imagine alternative futures. In Pardubice, Elena and Valentina are artists-in-residence with the OFFCITY AiR program. Together, they are building connections between local communities, the surrounding natural world, and craft traditions. During their residency, they are developing a collaborative artistic research project focused on urban trees and plants—exploring their roles as non-human actors in public space. Through two public workshops, they aim to foster new ways of interacting with natural materials that are abundant, yet often overlooked in urban environments.

The workshop is taking place as part of the OFFCITY AiR 2025 and is being implemented with the kind financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the statutory city of Pardubice. Thank you!