AIR

BIEN 2025 THEME: AIR

Join the lectures exploring the theme of AIR from various perspectives: https://youtu.be/i9bcl5JUees

Presenters: Robert Brus, Francisca, Dagmar Bosma, Klara Debeljak

Curated by: Klara Debeljak

Zala Orel: BIEN 2025 Introduction
Zala Orel is the artistic director and founder of BIEN, the Biennial of Textile Art.

Klara Debeljak: Æther’s Story
Klara Debeljak is a researcher and artist, based in Ljubljana, working at the intersection of writing, design, and video art.

Robert Brus: The Symbolism and Beauty of Trees
Robert Brus is a professor at the Department of forestry and renewable forest resources, University of Ljubljana.

Dagmar Bosma: Rust Never Sleeps: Trans*formative Potentialities of Corrosion
Dagmar Bosma is an artist, writer, and cultural programmer based in Amsterdam, currently exploring the trans*ing movements of ruination.

Francisca: Caer Ascendiendo (To Fall Ascending)
Francisca is a Chilean artist from the Palestinian diaspora, currently based in Amsterdam. Her recent works explore fragmented diasporic memories.

Elise Misao Hunchuck: What is This Thing That We Call a Cloud?
Elise Misao Hunchuck was announced as a lecturer. Unfortunately, just before her slot we got the info that Elise could not participate. We apologize for the inconvenience.

BIOs

Klara Debeljak is a researcher and artist whose research on internet intimacy, identity and the changing concept of community through a spatial and infrastructural lense began when she was studying psychology at Charles University in Prague and then continued at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Klara’s practice lies at the intersection of writing, design and video art. She is a recipient of the Designers Write award and her work has been exhibited, among others, at the Dakar OFF Biennale and Unfair Amsterdam. In 2024 she began a two-year residency programme at MGLC Švicarija, where she is developing a project on the gentrification of the digital and urban spheres.

Robert Brus, PhD, is a professor at the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana and teaches various subjects in the fields of dendrology, forest genetics, forest tree breeding, as well as forest seed science and nursery production. He has undertaken several study visits abroad and is a member of various domestic and international professional and scientific associations and editorial boards of scientific journals. His recent research areas primarily focus on dendrology, the biogeography of woody plants, the genetic and morphological variability of tree species, and the conservation of their genetic variability. He is also interested in the use of trees in urban environments, architecture, and art.

Dagmar Bosma is an artist, writer and gleaner based in Amsterdam. They studied Fine Art at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam, where they developed the ongoing body of work “SCRAP METAL DREAM BOY”, following trans*formative movements of rust and ruination. They have recently exhibited at Manifold Books (Amsterdam), W139 (Amsterdam), A Tale of A Tub (Rotterdam), Marres (Maastricht), Dracul.la (Barcelona) and Rosa Kwir (Balzan).

Francisca is a Chilean artist from the Palestinian diaspora, currently based in Amsterdam. Through performances, installations, and audiovisual works, Francisca Khamis Giacoman is trying to recall stories of migration and unfold them at the boundaries of fiction and materiality. Her research touches upon language, knowledge production, and accessibility through narrative circulation, focusing on different ways of (re)membering ourselves and others.

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Æthers’ Story
by: Klara Debeljak

The first time I learned that ether means “the upper pure, bright air,” it was a sharp, blue, autumn afternoon, and there were flocks of giant birds flying overhead. A stranger pointed up, saying; “Never forget to keep your eyes on the ether.” From that moment on, I connected ether with crisp air, clear skies, and magic. Although, as indicated by the changing weather, ether is never just one thing. It takes many forms and dictates transformation itself. In medieval science, aether is “the fifth element,” a substance that fills all space and makes up all bodies.

Approximately one hundred years ago, an archaeologist found detailed illustrations of air on ancient Egyptian tombs. The paintings and carvings depicted the god of air, whom the Greeks called Æther. He was holding up the goddess of the sky, her long body folding over him, touching the earth on either side. Despite his many variations, Æther was depicted as solid, his form associated with the mind, truth, intelligence and balance. The characteristics of air across cultures have been order and stability, a calming and cooling influence that counters chaos. Although you might not make the connection at first, air and chaos are closely related, competing with each other like brothers. Indeed, in Greek mythology, Æther is the younger brother of Chaos, both the children of Chronos, Time, the father of impermanence.

For us mortals, the most significant way that Time and Æther interlace is through breathing, a process engaged in by nearly all organisms in order to stay alive. In early Hindu philosophy, the breath, the body’s essential air and energy is called prana, “the breath of life”, the vital force. The act of breathing can be felt spiritually as the rhythmic tuning in with the beat of the universe, a conduit for taking in the greater world and offering up in a moment of exchange. The spaces that naturally encourage breathing and union with air are forests, often referred to as the “lungs of the earth”. Forests filter and clean air, producing oxygen and enriching the air with organic compounds that boost the immune system and reduce stress.

Across the Western world, people desperately adopt ancient philosophies and attempt to connect with their prana, savoring breath work and yoga practices as a way to feel one in the spiraling loops of time. The search for the spiritual significance of air and breath expands as we witness our world descend into chaos and climate collapse. As the “lungs of the earth” are being destroyed and turned into monocultures for profit, our cities sink into permanent red-gray smog, and the mating and flying patterns of birds have become disrupted and blocked. Scientists frantically measure air quality and its degradation, and astronomers observe the disappearing stars, hidden by the light pollution caused by sprawling populations. Conspiracy theorists tip their heads to the sky and track irregularities in cloud and air formations.

Since air is the vital life force, symbolized by balance but also change, the worsening conditions in our atmosphere and the collapse of air quality cause a slow disintegration of Æthers stable presence, bringing disorder and heavy fog. We must never forget that as much as air brings life, it can also take it away. A single air bubble in your blood is fatal, and one in ten deaths globally is the consequence of air pollution. Even if air quality had never been degraded to the degree it is now, the presence of air, alongside moisture and time, has always been responsible for transformation and reminding us of our impermanence. In essence, air breaks down materials into their most basic forms, causing mold, rust, rot and metamorphosis, reminding us that nothing stays static.

I dreamt of a bird so huge it blocked out the sky, stirring up storms with its wings, sweeping away the particles of dust, ash, and trash. The giant bird cleared new space and convinced Æther back into his solid stance, suggested he lean against the goddess of the Sky for support, and together they whispered to Chaos and calmed him down. The giant bird gave us humans no choice but to adapt. The bird soared overhead, dropping tiny seeds into hidden corners and coaxed the Earth to invite the forests back. It wasn’t the same as before, it was something else, a new phase of decay and transmutation, one in which the gods stood shoulder to shoulder and eye to eye. Mortals grew into the air with tenderness, because if ever there was a time to dream, it is now.