The 23rd Triennale Milano International Exhibition, entitled Unknown Unknowns. An Introduction to Mysteries, opens on 15 July and runs until 11 December 2022. Unknown Unknowns examines the theme of the unknown, exploring 'what we don't know we don't know'. Through a constellation of exhibitions, installations and special projects, the 23rd International Exhibition expands our vision into what remains outside of our understanding: from the far reaches of outer space to the depths of the oceans, from the mysteries of consciousness to the environment we live in.

Nature studies traditionally rely on quantitative data, but could they be adapted to give a better insight into how humans and non-humans can learn to share space and cooperate?

Have we met? exhibition

Have we met? Humans and Non-Humans on Common Ground, the name of the exhibtion of the Dutch Pavilion, promotes new ways for understanding our planet as a shared space for plants, microbes, humans and other animals. The view that the earth exists solely for human exploitation must be radically rethought to confront today's environmental crises. Have we met? therefore examines what attitudes, tools and technologies are necessary to recalibrate the relationship between humans and non-humans.

An urban block in Rotterdam, a regenerative farm in the Netherlands' rural east, and an abandoned North Sea oil rig: these three ecologically diverse sites help to explore the possibilities for interspecies relationships. Nature studies traditionally rely on quantitative data, but could they be adapted to give a better insight into how humans and non-humans can learn to share space and cooperate? The whole world is, in one way or another, touched by human policies and tools, so perhaps it is time to investigate where they take place and their effects on multispecies cohabitation.

Have we met? Humans and Non-Humans on Common Ground explores a range of possible collaborative tools developed by practitioners across art, design, agriculture, and data- and marine sciences. It builds on the organisational model of Zoöp – a zoological cooperative – collaboratively developed by Het Nieuwe Instituut. A Zoöp commits to making the interests of non-human life part of its organisational decision-making process. A ‘speaker for the living’ on the board of a Zoöp acts as an observer, advisor and teacher on non-human interests, safeguarding all life touched by that organisation.

The Dutch Pavilion won the Golden Bee Award in July 2022.

The Instrument of the Zoöp DataFusion project

The digital and analogue sensors of the Zoöp Data Fusion Instrument is part of this exhibition. The sensor register vibrations, heat traces, sound frequencies, electromagnetic waves, the smell and spread of pollen, the conductive capacity of mycelia growing underground, and the slow changes of humidity in the air. It has been installed in Het Nieuwe Instituut's garden since spring 2022, where it reads a space 30 metres wide by 30 metres long and 3 metres tall for eight months.

Zoöp DataFusion is created by ArtScience interfaculty students at the University of the Arts The Hague: Philipp Groubnov, Christine Hvidt, Andrzej Konieczny, Alexander Köppel, Leon Lapa Pereira and Vivien Vuong, guided by Rodrigo Delso (Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid) and Eric Kluitenberg (ArtScience interfaculty).

About Zoöp

Zoöp is the title of an organisational model for cooperation between human and non-human life that safeguards the interests of all zoë (Greek for 'life'). The zoöp model makes the interests of non-human life part of organisational decision making. Het Nieuwe Instituut adopted this model at 22 April 2022.

Credits

Commissioner: Aric Chen (General and Artistic Director, Het Nieuwe Instituut), Project Leader: Francien van Westrenen (Het Nieuwe Instituut), Curators: Klaas Kuitenbrouwer (Het Nieuwe Instituut) and Ellen Zoete (Het Nieuwe Instituut), Producers: Nikita Hurkmans and Wietske Nutma, Texts: Gert Staal and Jack Eden, Intern: Ilaria Torresan, Spatial design and lead photo: Studio Ossidiana, Graphic design: Mislav Žugaj and Gailė Pranckūnaitė

The exhibition is supported by the Dutch ministry of Education, Culture and Science The programme is supported by the Embassy and Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Italy