At their maternal colonies' end, queen bumblebees leave home, mate with lovers, then seek out sites of refuge to shelter in during the lean seasons; burrowing within the earth, there they await the time of blossoms. These cyclical sanctuaries are called hibernacula. We draw inspiration from these places of seasonal repose, connecting the underground states of organism-in-hibernacula with a kind of subterranean dreaming.

(This) Hibernaculum

is built by two academic workers as a space for communion and rest: we explore the work of the unconscious, the unseen and not fully formed, gathering more-than-human gestures that query problems of coexistence. For us, attending to the torpid rhythms of hibernation discloses the necessity and possibilities that flow from states of rest. Our Hibernaculum is designed as a refuge for these underground dreamings, a hideout for conserving energy, a space to share our musings.

We offer this online space as an archive of our creative gestures: an assignment created by the editors and the facilitator of the month, where we gather around our creative endeavors. We take this as a chance to give in to the repose of seasons, to co-create, distance ourselves from the academic anxieties, and to engage in sincere conversations. We look around and gather to collectively assemble an archive for multispecies gestures.