SOLS EN SCÈNES - Soilscape

SOLS EN SCÈNES: Documentary Theatre and Participatory Scientific and Artistic Workshops on Soils

Location of activities and scope

France

Executive Summary

SOLS EN SCÈNES is a documentary theatre production combined with participatory scientific and artistic workshops on soils.

Objective: to increase soil literacy, engage non-specialist audiences, and inspire interest in soil science careers.

Approach: staged narratives based on a dialogue between artists and a soil scientist (pedologist), collective activities, soil observation and description, and fresco painting using local soils. Participants collect soil samples from their own environment, which become both scientific objects and artistic materials, fostering a tangible and sensitive connection with soils.

Expected results: contribution to the SOILSCAPE France Festival, dissemination in agricultural and architecture schools, outreach to the general public and educational networks, and the long-term development of a replicability kit.

Benefits: shifts in perception, strengthened knowledge, and greater appropriation of soil preservation practices.

Motivation Statement

Soils are often perceived as abstract entities. Yet, in their diversity and properties, they are essential to life.

Through documentary theatre, participatory soil workshops, and collaborative artistic frescoes, SOLS EN SCÈNES aims to reconnect audiences with the living dimension of soils: to sense, listen to, and understand them. The project highlights the diversity of soils (textures, colours, and structures) and the practices that help preserve them.

Our approach is locally rooted: the soils used during the workshops are collected in situ by students and participants themselves. They are first observed and described scientifically before being transformed into artistic material for collective frescoes. This simple act—handling and shaping the soil from one’s own territory—fosters both a sensitive and lasting connection with soils, countering the perception of soil as something distant or abstract.

Sub-project objectives

Its objectives are to:

– increase soil literacy;

-engage non-specialist audiences;

-inspire interest in soil science careers.

Challenges and how they will be addressed

The documentary theatre script will emerge from encounters and interviews with pedologists, soil scientists, and other soil practitioners, creative writing workshops, artistic residencies at the libraries of Chantepie and Cesson-Sévigné (Brittany, France), and the development of an innovative art-and-science project with students from Institut Agro Rennes-Angers (IRIS-E).

Three one-week residencies—hosted respectively by an agricultural high school, a Maison Familiale Rurale (MFR) and a school of architecture and landscape architecture—will make it possible to finalise both the theatrical production and the participatory workshops (soil workshops and fresco workshops), drawing on feedback from the target audiences and integrating it into the creative process.

During these residencies, educational and evaluation tools (quizzes, questionnaires, and learning journals) will be co-designed with teachers.

Expected outcomes

-Contribution to the SOILSCAPE France Festival.

-Dissemination in agricultural schools and schools of architecture.

-Outreach to the general public and educational networks.

-Long-term development of a replicability kit enabling the project to be implemented in other contexts.

Meet the Project Team

Marie-Laure Cloarec

Artistic Director and General Coordinator
Compagnie À vue de Nez (France)

Contacts:

Phone: +33 6 45 74 71 59

Compagnie À vue de Nez

Véronique Genevois-Gomendy

Independent Soil Scientist, Pedologist and Soil Cartographer

Contacts:

Phone: +33 6 83 70 49 22

Flore Angèle

Graphic Designer, Visual Artist and Mural Artist

Contacts

Phone: +33 6 70 21 15 35

Flore Angèle