Travelling Farm Museum of Forgotten Skills 

Stichting The Outsiders and CASCO - Art Instituut Working for the Commons. Utrecht, 2020-present

How can we come together and listen to the soil, trees, insects and children of Leidsche Rijn? And when we do, what can we learn from what we hear? Which skills and stories are rooted in this land, its agricultural past and presence as a suburb? What can we learn from those skills and stories for our future?

We invite everyone to join us in public gatherings, workshops and tours through Leidsche Rijn to collectively answer these questions and work on writing new stories for the area, collected in The Travelling Farm Museum of Forgotten Skills: a travelling, participatory museum that listens to the history, (im)material heritage, and present-day inhabitants – human and non-human – of Leidsche Rijn to develop skills and stories for fair and sustainable world-building.

Leidsche Rijn was once a vast farmland, now 22 years ago building started in the area to create a so-called VINEX neighborhood. In this process of urban development, many stories, skills and memories of its agricultural heritage disappeared.

In 2018 Leidsche Rijn based artist collective The Outsiders and Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons joined forces with neighbors, artists and communities to inhabit and animate one of the few remnants: the Terwijde Farmhouse. From seeding to harvest time, several activities unfolded to think about the past of Leidsche Rijn as farmland and its future as Utrecht’s newest neighborhood, all through the lense of food, ecology and heritage.

The farmhouse was sold to a developer in 2019 which offered us a new opportunity: to move into the neighborhood and learn more about all the stories around us - the ones told by the soil, trees, insects and children of Leidsche Rijn. We want to hear from all of you! In five public moments we will be exploring Leidsche Rijn further and invite you to join us and share your stories, thoughts and needs so we can develop the Travelling Farm Museum of Forgotten Skills together!
Concept of the Travelling Farm Museum of Forgotten Skills - image Merel Zwarts