• Titled Reading Ocean Imprints, the workshop will take place in Santander and the Nansa Valley, exploring the natural environment of Cantabria and analysing the traces that human activity leaves in the ecosystems.

• The artistic collective made up of Daniel Fernández Pascual and Alon Schwabe will lead this workshop in Santander from 9 to 17 September 2024. Registration ends on 11 August. The workshop is connected with the exhibition that Cooking Sections will have in 2025 in the Centro Botín.

• How do surfers read waves to find swell? What do clouds tell fishers to catch? Can cockle pickers read shells to foresee the tides? These are some of the questions that the 15 participants will be exploring.

• This workshop is designed for people with experience in visual or performing arts, architecture and spatial practices, environmental studies, anthropology, marine biology, meteorology, as well as poetry, geology, history or any other discipline with a special interest in reading coastal environments impacted by humans.

Cooking Sections will lead the next Fundación Botín Art Workshop, which will take place from 9 to 17 September 2024 in Santander and the Nansa Valley, as a precursor to the exhibition they will have in the Centro Botín in 2025. Titled Reading Ocean Imprints, the members of Cooking Sections (the artists Daniel Fernández Pascual and Alon Schwabe) will lead this workshop in which they will travel throughout Cantabria to explore the coast, the interior and the natural environment of the region with the goal of uncovering the signs and traces that human activity leaves on the region’s ecosystems and to reflect on the sustainability of its food.

Specifically designed by Cooking Sections, this workshop is devised as a ten-day program to uncover and analyse the culture of the primary sector and the essence of the region’s natural landscape. Through readings, improvisation and performative recreations, the fifteen participants will raise such questions as, how do surfers read waves to find swell? What do clouds tell fishers to catch? Can cockle pickers read shells to foresee the tides?

How to participate

Anyone interested in participating in Reading Ocean Imprints can submit their application – in English – via this online application form, from today until 11 August. Candidates should have experience in performative or visual arts, architecture and spatial practice, environmental studies, anthropology, marine biology, meteorology, as well as poetry, geology, history or any other discipline with a special interest in reading coastal environments impacted by humans. It is important to keep in mind that the workshop takes place in English and participants must remain until its conclusion.

The decision will be announced on 16 August 2024. Those selected will be emailed and the results will be published on the website.

About Cooking Sections

The artistic collective Cooking Sections was founded in London in 2013 by Daniel Fernández Pascual and Alon Schwabe. Food is very present in their artistic practice, acting as a lens and a tool to observe landscapes in transformation and as a means to research and address environmental and societal questions. They also make use of installations, performances and videos related to the location work processes they explore, interweaving art, architecture, ecology and geopolitics.

Cooking Sections is internationally recognized for their innovative and multidisciplinary approach. In 2020-2021, they were guest professors at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts and they are currently senior and leading researchers at CLIMAVORE x Jameel at the Royal College of Art in London. Since 2023, they have been fellows at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.

Throughout their career, the duo has received several awards and distinctions for their contributions to art and sustainability. In 2021, they were nominated for the Turner Prize and the Visible Award for socially-engaged practices. In addition, they were awarded the Special Prize at the 2019 Future Generation Art Prize. As an individual, Daniel received the Harvard GSD Wheelwright Award in 2020 for Being Seafood.

The innovative work of Cooking Sections has been exhibited in galleries and international museums such as Tate Britain, Serpentine Galleries, SALT, Bonniers Konsthall, Lafayette Anticipations, Grand Union, Carnegie Museum of Art, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Atlas Arts, HKW, SPACES, Storefront for Art and Architecture. They have also participated in the Taipei Biennial, 58th Venice Biennale, Istanbul Biennial, Cleveland Triennial, BAS9, Shanghai Biennial, Los Angeles Public Art Triennial, Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Sharjah Art Biennial, Performa17, Manifesta12, and New Orleans Triennial, among others.