Rewilding the Salinas

Feral Malmö is a studio dedicated to reimagining relationships between people and nonhuman nature. Founded by Inna Zrajaeva and John Kazior, they use design, storytelling, and participatory processes to create strategies for multispecies living. Focusing on localized contexts as sites for challenging our current connections to our shared ecosystem.

The studio's project “Rewilding the Salinas” focuses on the defunct salt pans of the Aveiro Lagoon in Portugal, a site undergoing natural rewilding. The work takes the form of painted tiles inspired by the Portuguese Art Nouveau movement still visible in Aveiro’s city architecture today. The tiles were designed in part for a public workshop hosted at the Aveiro Ceramic Biennial in 2025, where participants were invited to paint species inhabiting the salinas today. Focusing on four representative species and learning about their ecology through accompanying booklets and discussion. The workshop was carried out in collaboration with Prof. Ana Sousa, whose research is focused on rewilding in the coastal region. Giving participants the chance to learn about the changes undergone in these key local ecosystems.

The project is representative of rewilding principles as it presents the stories of species that have thrived or declined in relation to local human activity in the Aveiro Lagoon. And it proposes a vision where these species can once again become part of the ecological and also the cultural fabric of Aveiro, by working with an established cultural idiom–the city’s art nouveau movement. This is further emphasized by the project’s focus on participation and co-creation, showing rewilding as an important process in our shared ecological future.

Through “Rewilding the Salinas,” Feral Malmö highlights the interplay between art, learning, and ecological awareness, inviting participants to reflect on their role in nurturing resilient ecosystems and celebrating the species returning to these restored habitats.

‍