Anika Schwarzlose & Katja Verheul

In their project, Anika Schwarzlose (DE) and Katja Verheul (NL) explore the paradox of military training grounds that double as protected nature reserves. The project questions the long-term impacts of military activity on ecosystems like soils, forests and groundwater, and public notions of “protection”.

To the jury, it felt very relevant to complicate notions of “safety” and to add different voices to the conversation on military expansion that is dominating political discourse. Equally, the jury was very enthusiastic about the artists’ participatory and dialogical approach to working with Leiden University students, as well as their proposed interdisciplinary collaborations with various Academic departments.

The selection was made by a jury of 10 readers, who held artistic, curatorial, academic and/or creative research backgrounds. Schwarzlose and Verheul’s project was the finalist over a 3-stage selection process. The initial applicant list of 695 was reduced to a short list of 15 candidates, followed by an interview with the final 3 candidates. Two of these were requested to send additional information in order to come to the final decision.

We are thrilled we will be working with Anika and Katja so soon! And please follow our communication channels for further information in the coming months.