11.00am - 6.00pm: exhibition Hana Shahnavaz

5.30-6.00pm: doors open

6.00-7.00pm: conference The Art of Nature

Ignace Schops (°1964) is a Belgian environmentalist and a biodiversity expert. He is the director of the NGO RLKM and the inspirer of the Hoge Kempen National Park. 

Schops is the author and co-author of several books and articles on nature conservation. His recent (2022) book Gered door de Boomkikker. De grote toekomst van mens en natuur will appear in English in 2023.

“Now that we have almost recovered from the COVID pandemic, a war looms in Ukraine. The world we live in suffers dangerous climate changes with alternating droughts, floods and hurricanes. Intolerance with much pain and sorrow and a virus as a symptom of a depleted planet. Few of us realize that we are on the brink of ecological collapse. The loss of biodiversity is unprecedented, a disaster whose consequences we can hardly foresee.

And yet. Often solidarity and creativity emerge from seemingly hopeless situations in which man shows his best side. In the wild, we rediscover our inner nature and humanity. A forgotten 'wildness' that leads to beauty.  In Art we reconnect what was once broken: human and non-human nature. Art holds up a mirror to us. It is up to us to learn and show beauty and humanity. Because we are nature. Because we cannot destroy what keeps us alive and because the individual only can survive with the generosity of the collective. UBUNTU it is.”

After the conference it is possible to enjoy an exclusive dinner with our guest speaker, Ignace Schops. If you wish to participate, you can make a reservation here.