Ars Biologica 2025: Art, Science, and the Future of the Landscape
Come and explore a different perspective on agriculture, the landscape, and the future at the Ars Biologica pavilion at the Země živitelka fair!
• Lectures • Performances • Mobile Laboratory • Discussions
24 August 2025
Pavilion R2, České Budějovice Exhibition Grounds, Agrosalon Země živitelka
What can genuine collaboration between artists, scientists, farmers, and residents of both cities and rural areas look like?
The emerging platform Ars Biologica seeks answers to the key questions of our time: how to care for the landscape, how to reconnect with the soil, water, and biodiversity – and how to approach these issues both creatively and scientifically.
ABOUT THE ARS BIOLOGICA PAVILION
In suburban and urban landscapes, nature is often seen as secondary—less aesthetic, less valuable. Yet it is precisely on the edges between cities and fields where the future shape of the landscape is being decided today.
At the heart of the Czech Republic’s largest agricultural fair, the Ars Biologica Pavilion offers a space for a different perspective on soil, landscape, and agriculture. For one day, Pavilion R2 will transform into a meeting place where art and science, agricultural practice, and cultural reflection come together. Visitors can look forward to an inspiring programme curated by the research team of the Environmental Humanities Prague group at Charles University—featuring lectures, performances, discussions, and presentations of other outputs from the long-term Ars Biologica project. While the content of the pavilion is created in collaboration with teams from the humanities and natural sciences, it is designed not only for professionals but especially for the general public.
The pavilion also features an outdoor laboratory, where visitors can experience first-hand (and with all their senses) what living, healthy soil looks like. Thanks to cooperation with the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, it will be possible to observe soil processes under the microscope, compare soil samples, and taste the difference between food from regenerative agriculture and products from conventional production.
The programme also includes a presentation of the Ars Biologica Summer School, taking place this year in Prague and České Budějovice in collaboration with the Uroboros platform. The school connects students and lecturers from the fields of art, design, and science, and its outputs—including four thematic sections—will be presented to the public for the very first time within the Ars Biologica Pavilion.
A new feature for 2025 is the launch of the Ars Biologica international residency programme in collaboration with the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz. This programme brings together international artistic and scientific teams with local communities, creating space for joint exploration of solutions to environmental challenges—both locally and globally.
DAY PROGRAM
🌱 Garden (outdoor area)
🕥 10:30–10:45 – The Return of Přemysl the Ploughman
Interactive performance by Ondřej Mácl on all the meanings a furrow can hold.
🕙 10:00–18:00 – Mobile Laboratory of the Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences
(Microscopes, soil profiles, sensory testing)
🏛️ Pavilion R2 – Lecture Hall: The Landscape as a Place of Memory and a Forum for the Future
🕚 12:00–13:00 – Tomáš Uhnák: Agroforestry – More Than Trees in a Field
Forest and field are two environments separated by a boundary. In the past, this was not the case—and it doesn’t have to be in the future. Agroforestry is one possible path out of crisis.
🕐 13:00–14:00 – Jan Randák: The Landscape as a Mirror of Society
The landscape is not only “external” nature—it is also a reflection of the world a society creates about itself. It can therefore be read and interpreted.
🕞 15:30–17:00 – Panel Discussion: Where Does Nature End and Culture Begin?
Guests: Michal Hořejší, Martin Netočný, Tomáš Uhnák. Moderator: Veronika Faktorová.
Where do we draw the boundary between nature and culture, between city and field, or city and forest? What do we mean by “landscape” and “agriculture”? And how do the boundaries of these concepts limit our response to the environmental crisis? This panel will open these questions—come to listen and join the discussion.
🧪 Pavilion R2 – Lounge
🕛 11:00–12:00 – Ars Biologica Summer School: Presentation of the Pilot Year
- Ars Biologica Summer School: When Science, Art, and Permaculture Meet
- Presentation of the pilot edition and its four thematic sections by students and lecturers.
🕑 14:00–15:30 – Ars Biologica × Ars Electronica: Artistic Residencies in Practice Introduction of the new residency programme and opportunities for international collaboration between artists and researchers.
Collaborating experts:
- Robertina Šebjanič (Artist and expert for artxscience collaborations)
- Lenka Marcínová (architect and local stakeholder)
- Anne Daebeler (Scientist at CAS Biology Center)
- Magdalena Wutkovska (Scientist at CAS Biology Center)
- Jakub Pešek (farmer and local stakeholder).
Moderated by Laura Welzenbach (Ars Electronica)
- Presentations will be in English, with Czech translation provided
What is Ars Biologica?
The project is carried out in collaboration with partners: Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Environmental Humanities Prague, Uroboros, and Ars Electronica (AT).
ADMISSION
Entry to the pavilion is included with a valid ticket to the Agrosalon Země živitelka (tickets available on-site or online).
TICKET PRICES
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Full: CZK 160 / 200
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Reduced (students, seniors): CZK 100 / 150
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Disabled visitors (ZTP/P): CZK 100 / 150
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Family: CZK 350 / 450
