Mapping Multi-Species Peatland Perspectives - Challenging Human-Centered Ways of Knowing with Artistic, Experimental and Scientific Tools
Current Project
In the workshop Mapping Multi-Species Peatland Perspectives, two facilitators from RE-PEAT guided participants through an immersive exploration of a drained peatland, inviting them to engage with the landscape through the perspectives of non-human beings—mosses, insects, birds, algae, and trees. The workshop began with an examination of local maps, sparking critical discussion about how peatlands are traditionally represented, and what such representations reveal about power, control, and human-centered thinking.
Participants then grounded themselves in the environment through a somatic meditation, tuning into their senses before being invited to wander freely through the landscape. Rather than following a fixed route, they were guided by what caught their attention—what resonated, glimmered, or quietly called. Many described moments of deep connection, even near-spiritual experiences, with certain beings—especially the alder, which seemed to hold a shared, hypnotic presence.
Forming groups based on these resonances, participants created maps of the peatland from the perspective of their chosen non-human entity. These maps were made using materials from the landscape itself—moss, soil, twigs, feathers, even snails—resulting in living, ephemeral artworks that challenged conventional notions of art as static, commodified objects. Unlike a previous iteration of the workshop in Greifswald, this group embraced the vitality and temporality of their surroundings, letting the place guide the creative process.
Throughout, the symbolic presence of the grey goose—companion to a recent RE-PEAT residency—offered a quiet reminder that the natural world resists control and invites relational, open-ended dialogue. Blending scientific and artistic tools, the workshop encouraged a playful yet critical shift in perspective, showing how multispecies mapping can open new ways of seeing, knowing, and feeling a landscape.
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