When Things Don't Go According to Plan

Dear interlocutor,

Long time no write, eh? There were plans, and then the plans had to be shelved.

I've been quite quiet the past few months. Over the summer a dear friend of mine, someone who is like a sister to me and whom I've known for almost two decades, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She's European but lives and teaches in the US now. So, the day after my friend informed me of her diagnosis, I was on a flight to the US to manage her care and support her through her treatment. If you know anything about the American healthcare system you know that's it's not something you want to navigate by yourself. Thankfully she's been responding well to treatment, but it indeed has been a long slog for her.

Of course being in the US as a trans person these days has not been the most enjoyable thing (understatement of the century), and I've had to consider fleeing back to the Netherlands multiple times due to changes in the US government's policy towards transgender passports (see more info here and here). Right now I seem to be safe from losing my passport, but it's always a risk and I check the news every few hours to see if I need to be on a plane to the NL the next day.

While here I've taken on teaching a couple of my friend's classes as well, meaning that I've been teaching two classes in the US and one remotely in the NL. Due to being in the US I had to give up my position as Pathway Leader of Ecology Futures at Avans Hogeschool. I was able to continue teaching my usual Avans class on amateur lichenology remotely, but due to a number of things happening at Avans (more to say on that in the future), I was also informed this fall that I am being let go of my teaching position there, meaning I won't be teaching in, or affiliated with, Ecology Futures any longer after 1 February 2026.

When it rains, it pours, no?

I will be back in the NL for a month in January for some work and events, then back in the US for further carework in February, and then back to the NL for (hopefully) good come March 2026.

While I've had my fair share of carework throughout my life (I wrote a bit about some experiences of this in a text almost 20 years ago which you can read online), and thus was experienced with how things go, it's always more exhausting than you remember. Suffice it to say that both my friend and I are hoping for a different set of circumstances in 2026.

Quanto Canto at HEK

I failed to let anyone know about my work, Quanto Canto, being on view at HEK in Basel this late summer and fall as part of the show Quantum Visions. I was visiting Basel for a site visit this summer when I first got word about my friend's potential diagnosis, and the first thing I had to do after arriving in the US was help manage the installation remotely. Luckily I didn't have to do too much because the team at HEK is incredible (many thanks to the curator Sabine Himmelsbach and the support of Marlene Wegner, as well as the whole installation team there). In addition, the curator and commissioner of the piece, Angelique Spaninks from MU Hybrid Art House in Eindhoven, went out of her way to install the work. I'll be forever grateful for everyone's help in that uncertain time as I had to return to the US.

Quanto Canto at MU

And now Quanto Canto will be on view at MU Hybrid Art House from 12 December 2025 until 22 March 2026 as part of the expo Explorations of Uncertainty—Artists' Visions on the Quantum. If you'd like to attend the opening you can get tickets here. I will not be able to be present due to my friend's chemo schedule.

I will be part of some public events related to the expo come January when I am back in the Netherlands for the month, but will share more about that later.

The Futures

I'm now in a position, when I return to the NL in the spring, where I won't be working in academia for the first time since I arrived in the NL. As my position at Avans provided a large share of my income, I am definitely looking for work for the spring, especially after I return (for good, hopefully) in March 2026. Need a guest tutor? I have lots of teaching experience across many domains of theory and practice. Need someone to help design a new curriculum or program? I've been involved in leading Ecology Futures for the past 2,5 years and have been teaching at the university level in academia since 2011. Need someone to help with the technical aspects of your projects? I have a couple of decades of experience in creative hardware and software design, programming, and implementation. So, if you know of any opportunities (or even want to offer me one!) I'm available :)

I have some other things I've been thinking about and developing while I've been in the US, but will share them later once the time is appropriate. For there are times that are more opportune for certain things, and those times will come.

With hope for some rest for all who are weary,

Adriana