Margherita Pevere

Soil & wildfires

Soil & wildfires

Soil, the substrate for thriving forests, is variously affected by wildfires in manners that are little known by the general audience.

participants to the art and science workshop looking with attention at an experiment

What happens to soil during a wildfire? And after? This transdisciplinary art and science workshop will take participants to a journey into this important yet often overlooked realm of wildfire recovery.

Participants learn about the complex ecologies of wildfires and the path to recovery afterwards. A hands-on session offers insights onto the effects of wildfires on soil and how to appreciate the different kind of substrates. The processes of recovery and regeneration are explained, with a special focus on the so-called “fire mosses”, and how these processes can be harnessed for bioremediation.

The following prototyping session and discussion address possible artistic experimentation with soil, and why art dealing with ecology and science is a powerful tool to look at ecosystems.

The workshop emerges from my 2-years-long research for Lament, an installation and performance about post-wildfire ecologies and more-than-human mourning. It draws on both fieldwork on the Karst plateau after the severe wildfires in 2022, as well as experimentation in the studio for the realisaion of the artwork.

The first iteration of the workshop was held at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.

artist and researcher margherita pevere explainning the ecologies of post wildfire soilartist margherita pevere explaining the next steps of the workshopartist margherita pevere and a workshop participants pouring some water for an experimentsparticipants to the art and science workshop looking with attention at an experimentpreparing the experiments at the workshop on soil wildfires and bioremeidationparticipants experimenting with matreialites from wildfire sitesworkshop participants loking at the miscroscope in the art and science workshop on soil and wildfiressampels of soilpeople loking at the miscroscope in the art and science workshop on soil and wildfiresart and science workshop on soilsamples of calcinated soil

The workshop was realised with the support by the SciArt project Resonances IV cycle on “NaturArchy: Towards a Natural Contract” of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, wth the scientific advice by Dr Diana Vieira.

The workshop at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin was held in collaboration with Dr Katharina von Oheimb and Dr Parm von Oheimb.

Pictures: Margherita Pevere, Katharina von Oheimb.