Les – Community for Cultivation, Theory and Art

Are Association

The activities of the Woods Community for Cultivation, Theory and Art brings together art projects, research, agricultural work, activism and relaxation. The community was founded upon the acquisition of a plot of forest and meadow in Hnátnice, in the Orlické mountains, which was purchased in 2019 as a group project. Since then, the group has aimed at creating biodiversity in the forest and building a permaculture farm and garden to provide space for living and for cultural activity, while making proper use of the land and cultivating its relationship to people. The group also uses the principles of permaculture, received from the artistic and cultural spheres, as part of their everyday lifestyle. Their regular cultural programs join practical forestry and gardening with academic research and cultural, community-oriented activities in person and online. So far, they have mainly offered courses in, for example, the forest’s spectrum of edible plants, water management, and interspecies communication. They also plan artistic residencies and symposia. The project is a shared activity of the Are group and the Institute of Anxiety. The core organizational team consists of eight people, but the wider Woods community counts dozens of individual members, and welcomes more.