In the research project Terroir – Engaging through Material with the Wild, I explored the concept of “terroir”—originally used in the culinary world to describe how environment shapes the characteristics of produce—and applied it to design education. Terroir suggests that, just as when I eat a grape—the minerals from the soil entering the grape and becoming part of my body—material, landscape, and body are intertwined. Through material-based and situational learning, I explore pedagogical approaches.
The research project had different iterations:
2024, September Workshop: Terroir – Engaging Through Material with the Wild. Minor Material Ecologies, Bachelor New Design and Attitudes, St. Joost School of Art and Design, Breda.
2024, October Workshop: Terroir – Engaging Through Material with the Wild. Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam Bachelor Teacher Training Art and Design Education.
2024, October Workshop: Terroir – Engaging Through Material with the Wild. Weißensee School of Art and Design, Berlin. (see below)
2024, November Terroir: Engaging Through Material with the Wild. Workshop for In(di)visible Infrastructures, Bridging Overseen Worlds at St. Joost Master Institute of Visual Cultures and Design Museum Den Bosch. CARADT. (see below)
2024, November Online Workshop: Terroir – Engaging Through Material with the Wild. Alfred University, USA, Master Ceramics. Ceramic master’s students situated their practice within their local environment through material storytelling. They collected local clay, soil, minerals and fossils—common to Alfred—specifically engaging with Bennett’s (2010) idea of humans as “walking, talking minerals.” Gratitude to Dr. Wendy Gers for inviting me.
Terroir: 52° 33′ 0″ N, 13° 28′ 0″ E
The workshop Terroir: 52° 33′ 0″ N, 13° 28′ 0″ E , kicked off the Semester at Weissensee Kunsthochschule in October 2024. Together with the students we explored the semester’s theme “of(f) white and transparent transformations”, working with glass and clay –reflecting on the materials, often sourced from distant places in pursuit of purity and perfection, prompted reflection on the values behind such choices. Embracing instead imperfection: collecting rotten pears, diving into trash bins, working with discarded materials and uncovering unexpected beauty in discarded and locally found materials. Instead of shaping the world to our ideals, we asked: what if we let the imperfect speak?
We set a dinner stage, tasted kaolin (the raw material of porcelain!) and shared fruits served on locally sourced objects. Through this, we became sensorially entangled with our environment.
Terroir: 51° 69’ 78″ N, 5° 30’ 37″ E
This workshop Terroir 51° 69’ 78″ N, 5° 30’ 37″ E, Den Bosch was part of CARADT’s lecture series, “In(di)visible Infrastructures: Bridging Overseen Worlds Series.” After visiting “Design for the Planet” @designmuseumdenbosch —an exhibition exploring geo-engineering and how humans have shaped the Earth on a planetary scale, rooted in ongoing colonial histories—we took the conversation outside, whilst walking from the museum to the academy.
Through a guided walk, students from the Master Institute of Visual Cultures gathered found objects and examined them closely—under a microscope. Zooming in on textures and materials. What is available just around us? And what does local really mean?
We ended with a shared lunch, aiming to use only ingredients sourced within 10 km of the academy. But is eating locally even possible today? For example the apple pie: Were the apples from nearby orchards? Was the flour milled just down the road—or shipped from afar? And what of the cinnamon—what (colonial) path did it travel to reach your kitchen? What lies behind this homemade local nostalgia?
