STILL HERE: An Alliance with the SZenne River

For three years, Natural Contract Lab (NCL) has been walking with* the SZenne and its communities of people, fish, trees and living clay. They do this to strengthen their connection to the landscape and call attention to the rights of the river.
 

NCL weaves a thread through the histories and memories of the SZenne and its inhabitants, connecting everything into one inseparable ecosystem. In recent months, NCL walked with the river from its source in Naast to the Zennegat in Mechelen. Following the rhythms of the water and the surrounding land, the participants created space for togetherness and mutual care. In the next walking-with, the lab will use soundscapes and stories that bear witness to the communal flow of the SZenne: sometimes invisible and underground, but always unique and inextricably linked to Brussels. In this way, the group hopes to restore the river to its rightful and natural course.
 

*What exactly is the art of walking-with? Walking-with is a site-specific conversation, an interactive and dynamic tale that engages the senses and the imagination, an ongoing exchange of memories, experiences and shared grief. The participants want to listen to the water, but also think about new and improved ways of caring for the river, which has suffered much ecological damage. As such, these mobile gatherings aim to forge a care alliance for the SZenne that enshrines the rights of the river and its biodiverse populations into a living law.

On Saturday afternoon, from 1pm to 4pm, you can also listen to a sound installation by Natural Contract Lab in Maximilian Park. In this installation, NCL weaves soundscapes and testimonies from the SZenne, together with scores and stories that evoke its invisible streams, buried underneath the city of Brussels.