Memories of Landscape. On Traces of Violence in Nature

The Summer Academy addresses the question of how landscapes become memory spaces of human violence – and how we deal today with these silent, often overlooked archives. Destroyed buildings, ruins of bunkers, old military paths, devastated soils, rivers and forests, in which traces of war crimes and crimes against humanity are inscribed, tell of profound wounds and collective traumas. The Summer Academy understands landscape not only as a scenery of past violence, but as an active carrier of memories, as a warning witness, as a source of questions about responsibility, grief, perpetratorship – and hope. How do societies deal with such traces and the historical events they refer to? How do art, science, education and civic engagement shape new ways of remembrance and reflection?

The international exchange with experienced experts and interdisciplinary group work open up space for developing creative strategies, for an artistic-political approach to dealing with violence, memory and the possibility of healing and transformation.

The Summer Academy addresses young professionals aged 25 to 35 from Croatia, France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and the Western Balkan countries with a professional background and practical experience a) in the field of civic and history education/memory work/culture of remembrance and/or b) in artistic practice related to educational projects on the topics of nature, history, remembrance and memory.

The Summer Academy’s working language is English.

Registration is requested via the online form until 1 July 2025.

More information is available in the call for applications.

Partner: German Federal Agency for Civic Education