“Tell Me Your Name” is a performative walk and artistic act by Stefaan van Biesen and Geert Vermeire, inviting local inhabitants to name wild plants growing in their environment—between street tiles, along walls, or by the roadside—based on their own poetic intuition and personal feelings.
Participants are encouraged to reflect on what a plant means to them, whether in relation to themselves or their community. Using nameplates similar to those found in garden shops, we mark these plants, challenging the notion of “weeds” and instead recognizing them as valuable, deserving of attention and care—extending this awareness to all living beings, both human and more-than-human.
The workshop also addresses the misconception that plants don’t hear or are unaware of humans. Scientific research reveals that plants perceive vibrations and communicate, reminding us that listening is fundamental—not only in bridging the divide between human and non-human life but also fostering that listening to each other is a catalyst for positive change.
Hosts
Walking Arts & Local Communities (WALC) is an artistic cooperation project, co-funded by the European Union, Creative Europe, starting in January 2024 for four years. With seven partners from five countries, WALC establishes an International Center for Artistic Research and Practice of Walking Arts, in Prespa, Greece, at the border with Albania and North Macedonia, backed up by an online counterpart in the format of a digital platform for walking arts.
WALC builds on the previous work of hundreds of artists and researchers already practicing Walking Arts as a collaborative medium, and having met at the significant previous walking arts events and encounters in Greece, Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, and during online activities at walk · listen · create.
We acknowledge the support of the EU Creative Europe Cooperation grant program in the framework of the European project WALC (Walking Arts and Local Community).
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
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Libraries as Gardens – sound walk in Athens
The National Garden of Athens is transformed into an audio book of stories by people all over the world, during the pandemic, telling about their favorite public gardens and reading from their favorite books at home during lockdown. You can listen to the recordings while walking inside the National Garden of Athens through a webapp