The days are getting shorter, leaves are getting yellow and flowers are starting to wilt, and the streets are full of seeds. All the geveltuintjes have been restocked with new flowers in the autumn, but who cares to spread their seeds (if they produce them of course) around? Sometimes wind is not enough to transport them. There may not be enough animals to spread them through their excrements, or they may not be able to land on a piece of soil. So human animals of Charlois, this is where our dexterous opposable thumbs can come in handy! We will also critically examine this practice, and ask ourselves how much good and bad are we actually doing? Are seeds and seedlings just a cheap commodity that some rather not waste their time on? Are the seeds of some plants undesirable? Are some seeds proprietary?

Join us for a walk around the neighborhood of Charlois, during which we will collect, identify and store seeds from the flowers that surround us. Then, we will make and share seed balls, that can be easily stored in a dry place until spring time, when they will be ready to be spread back into the world.

Common Dirt is an ongoing series of events organized by Varia, in which we take a critical look at the cross-connections between biology and technology in Rotterdam. Every season we investigate how these two influence each other and how developments in nature and urban policy are entangled. Central to this is an interwoven vision of urban nature, in which the way nature accomodates to city life offers hints and hints for our own survival in times of growing urbanization.

This series falls under Varia's Homebrewing research thread. Through this research we aim to co-create understandings through collaboratively experimenting with others, and de-mystify current technological practices in order to share and question them more easily.

Date: Friday, 11th of October 2024
Time: 15:00 CEST
Duration: +/- 3 hours
Entrance: Free
Starting point: Varia (Gouwstraat 3, Rotterdam)

This project is supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL.