Run, run, as fast as you can…

[The Place: Provincial Nature Reserve de Gavers Harelbeke on 7^th mai 2022 ¬  [What preceded: Members of the Belgian Society for Conchology conducted research in the reserve section that is not open to the public.  ¬ ¬ [The Scene.  An open site at the foot of the windmill.  [The Action Bringing their findings and samples over the border to discuss and compare; for this purpose, they build a research station ‘en plein air’.  ¬ A large tabletop is lifted onto trestles and levelled.  Chairs, more than needed, are unfolded and placed around, allowing others to sit as well.  ¬ What has been found behind closed doors presents itself as part of a process.  The table enables a place of communication, where all impressions are considered equal and valuable. This endeavour draws on the great diversity of possible observations of nature and the wide range of perspectives that emerge from encountering living organisms.  For many, the beauty of the small under magnification becomes an accidental glimpse into the unknown Wild. ¬ The hairs on the hair snail, a lithe body rolling out of its tiny house, the slime buds on the skin of a nudibranch : small differences are considered, almost inconspicuous features discovered ¬ ¬ ¬ The 'new scholars' unlocked perceptions of specific species in an unusual, unexpected, perhaps bizarre or even absurd way.  The apparent contradiction facing the fantastic and the real may seem paradoxical, but it is the very strangeness of the situation that leads to new and unfamiliar encounters. In this way, attention slips within a world that everyone could read into on a daily base, but because of our lifestyles and economies remains excluded from obtaining the merit it deserves.¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬ ¬   [Exit

* On the Field  Tom ¬ Frank ¬ Franky ¬ Emmanuel ¬ Ward ¬ Guy ¬ Nathal  ¬ Marian ¬ Ingrid ¬ Carine … * Performing NNX * Special thanks to Patrick Huyskens * Photocredits Ingrid Mostrey ¬ Carine Van de Velde ¬  Kristof Waelkens * With support from Provinciedomein de Gavers, Harelbeke: Wout Dekoninck ¬ Kristof Waelkens