W 32 / Foraging & Carving City Wood

In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to try carving with different types of wood collected from city tree trimmings.

While it might seem difficult to find carving wood in an urban environment, there's actually plenty of material around – if you know where to look.

The workshop will take place outdoors in a green space within the city. We'll start by learning how to identify and gather suitable wood in an urban setting, followed by a hands-on session where each participant can carve a simple spoon.

No prior experience with woodworking is necessary – everyone is welcome to come and try it out! We'll cover the basics of carving, including an introduction to safe handling of tools. However, participants should feel comfortable using a sharp knife and are expected to handle tools responsibly during the session.

The workshop will be led by the creative duo 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!