Thinking Forest is a radically sustainable exhibition space, where ecology, contemporary art and science meet in a production forest. The double meaning of ‘Thinking Forest’ points to both the natural wisdom of the forest as an ecosystem and a place to think, reflect and learn; an organic model for the development and the spreading of seedling ideas. Within the forest, art and wood production, decay, biodiversity, science and a public program come together. Thus the notion of ‘production forest’ can be reimagined as beneficial to all of the living world.

Thinking Forest is an initiative of artist Gerbrand Burger and it is realized by the Thinking Forest Foundation.

Wapke Feenstra (MyVillage)
at Landgoed Welna, 2025

On Saturday, April 12, we organized Thinking Forest: En Plein Air, in collaboration with artist Wapke Feenstra (Myvillages), an event that partly part responded to the book Apprendre à Voir (Leren Kijken) by art historian Estelle Zhong Mengual—a plea for slow, careful observation to deepen our relationship with nature. For this occasion, we gathered to do plein-air drawing at Welna.

This year, Thinking Forest’s programming focuses on (rethinking) human-animal relationships. During this afternoon, we searched for traces of animal influence at Welna and studied them by capturing them in drawings. By pausing to consider animal presence, behavior, and interactions, we explored the interplay between human and more-than-human beings at Welna, focusing on how different perspectives can lead to radically different perceptions. The session took place in a wooded area, where we had time to connect with the surroundings and record our observations.

About Wapke Feenstra
Wapke Feenstra is a founder of Myvillages, a collective that has been exploring rural culture for 25 years. In various multidisciplinary collaborations, she has created spaces worldwide to question the cultural hegemonies of Eurocentrism and urbanism. The associated ecological challenges call for relearning how to see the landscapes around us. In 2012, Wapke began plein-air drawing in groups along the Schelde River near the village of Vlassenbroek. Drawing is a way to connect with the landscape—it’s about tracing your surroundings with your eyes in the moment. The motto is: “How we see the rural is how we want to relate to it.” Emancipating the urban gaze begins with rethinking our relationship with nature—not to define that relationship, but to question it together, creating space for shifts in perspective and critiquing dominant knowledge.

Since 2020, Wapke has worked in the newly established Rural School of Economics with rural sociologist Inez Dekker on "Cow and Landscape." The work was exhibited at the Rijksmuseum Twenthe and the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, featuring drawings of cows and meadow plants.

Photography: Petra Katanic

Gerbrand Burger, Divakar Nambiath, Annelinde Bruijs, Manizja Kouhestani, Gina Maffey at Landgoed Welna, 2024
During this event, Gerbrand Burger performed ‘Dear Wood’, a hymn and ode to the forest, performed by Gerbrand, Divakar Nambiath, Annelinde Bruijs, and Manizja Kouhestani. The performers wore pieces from the LOADS Collection, by Claudy Jongstra.

Artist-activist Claudy Jongstra brought her artistic vision and holistic textile expertise to LOADS – a vibrant creative hub at the center of a net-positive textile collective – initiated in collaboration with her son, Jesk Jongstra.

Loads Collection is handcrafted with Demeter-certified, biodynamic mono fabrics, composed of 100% traceable and biodegradable natural fibres and plant-based colours, cultivated on a gentle scale through biodynamic agriculture and regenerative shepherding.

Gina Maffey organized a ‘chaos’ willow weaving workshop.

Photography: Petra Katanic

Alice Bonnot, Nina Backman, Germaine Kruip and Siebe Tettero, Landgoed Welna, 2024

We're looking back at a very special meetup: Growing Roots (as art economy), during the summer solstice at Landgoed Welna.

Alice Bonnot mapped out various strategies of public and private art institutions towards a sustainable future. Her insightful talk led up to an intimate and open conversation about the dilemma’s of collecting in the face of climate change, the possiblity of museums without walls and art works that don’t need preservation, the power of silence in meeting one another, and much more.

Photography: Matthijs Immink

Gerbrand Burger, Landgoed Welna, 2024

Artist and founder of Thinking Forest Foundation, Gerbrand Burger, was artist in residence at Landgoed Welna from January - March 2024, and created the sculptural installation On a Trajectory Through a Maze Of Trajectories. The title refers to a text by anthropologist Tim Ingold, who writes how objects and materials as separate, finished entities don’t really exist; all materials are continually becoming, sometimes in correspondence with human makers, on their trajectories through a maze of trajectories.

Photography: Petra Katanic