14/08/2026

For a few years now I’ve been part of a group of extraordinary artists and friends, and together we’ve got this agreement with camping Kallumaan. We facilitate their programme for a weekend, and in return we get to stay there. I love these kinds of trades. They always seem to bring me joy. I get to experiment in my own way, and at the same time hang around with the people who inspire me.

This year I felt like doing something a bit different. Something with actual ecological value behind it, so I landed on bats, raising awareness about them and what they actually do for the world around us. They’re an endangered species, and over the last months I’ve been professionally active in this field on the side, so building a workshop around it felt like a right fit.

The camping is usually busy right when families take their holidays, so it was something to keep in mind namely, making something that works for adults and kids at the same time. I spent a while putting together a proper script, trying to make sure there was something in there for everyone.

When I got to the site I walked around for a bit, trying to figure out the best spot to catch some activity later one the night, and ended up mapping out a little route around the camping. Not long before the workshop started I got told there were more than 25 sign-ups. Which caught me a little off guard, to be honest.

Once we got going, the kids were completely in it. Couldn’t sit still, kept coming up to the table, leaning over it, firing off question after question. Their excitement pulled me along with it, and I found myself shaping the workshop around them as I went. basing the workshop more around the children than the adults, as they seemed to be happy about their excitement.

When the sun started going down, we headed out on our walk. I brought my night vision camera and my batlogger, and let them hold it, going through the picked up data together, keeping them excited when a bat was recorded.

The whole thing ran a bit longer than planned. But the parents and kids were having such a good time, so intrigued by all of it, that I decided to keep going until we surrendered to the mosquitos. When I finally packed up to go watch my friends play, a few kids were still coming up to me with questions. And that kept happening for the entire weekend.

Looking back, I’m really happy with how it went. It’s lovely to see a kid’s curiosity about animals and the care they intrinsically have for them. Seeing them so easily enthralled for a couple of hours felt like a huge achievement from my part and i hope that some of them will remember this as fondly as i do.