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IMAGINE2020 SUMMERLAB “FARM CAMP !”

From 6 to 9 July 2017, COAL has organized “Farm Camp!”, the european SummerLab of the Imagine2020 network as part of its Laboratory of Sustainable Culture. Ten european artists chosen by the member organizations of the Imagine2020 network came for 4 days on the Ferme Urbaine de Saint-Denis. The objective was to produce works and discussions about food, in the very specific context of the Urban Farm of Saint-Denis.

The artists

Ten artists have participated in this SummerLab 2017, including :
-       Siobhan McGrath from Artsadmin (UK)
-       Maria Lucia Cruz Correia from Bunker (SI)
-       Gosie Vervloessem from Kaaitheater (BE)
-       Theo Omambala from Lift (UK)
-       Maidie van den bos from Rotterdamse Schouwburg (NL)
-       Mārtiņš Zariņš and Toms Treinis from New Theater Institute of Latvia (LG)
-       Olivier Nattes, Paulie Toyer and Celsian Langlois from COAL (FR)

Farm Camp!

The artists were invited to set up a FARM CAMP inside the Saint-Denis Urban Farm : they have inhabited the place, and have been nourished by and respond to the project. The goal of the gathering was to allow each participant to produce a creative response to the Farm project and the proposed activities, by a means of their choice. The idea was to invite the artists to be the first contributors to a local, alternative art fund “made in 93” (93 being the national department number referring to Saint-Denis).

Workshops

4 half days were devoted to workshops about food and agriculture to develop the reflexion and creativity of the artists on specific subjects linked to the farm : discussion on urban agriculture and sustainable food, with Adrien Baysse Lainé geographer specialized in agricultural relocation ; guided tour of Saint-Denis market by local representatives ; permaculture workshop on the Farm ; writing workshop by Nathalie Blanc geographer, director of the LADYSS (laboratory of social dynamics and spaces recomposition) and Marine Legrand anthropologist, MNHN, National Museum of Natural History ; roundtable with Nathalie Blanc (director of the LADYSS), Olivier Hamant (plant biologist, INRA), Pauline Guinard (geographer, ENS), Christophe Lavelle (biophysicist, MNHN), Xavier Fourt (artist from the collective Bureau d’études) and Marine Legrand (anthropologist, MNHN).

Works :

3 half days were devoted to the experimentation and the production of works. They were presented to about fifty people on Sunday, July 9th. The 10 artists organized a route inside the farm which looked like an intestine, in order to show the fifty visitors the result of their reflections inspired by the place.

Pauline Toyer, La Ligne
According to the reflections of these four days on the notion of frontier, the farm’s belonging to a rural or urban environment, Pauline Toyer created a door between two worlds: that of the farm, and the outside world . On the fence which marks the separation of these worlds, she has suspended in symmetry, on both sides of the grid, a plant found in the garden. An invitation to the outside world to see what’s going on in the farm, as well as an extension of the territory of the farm beyond its limits.

Toms Treinis & Mārtiņš Zariņš, Urban Farmony
Maidie Van Den Bos, City or Rural ? For three days, Toms Treinis and Martins Zarins recorder the different sounds of the farm and then realized their own composition mixing farm noises and pieces of composers. Sitting in a black container, visitors were invited to listen to these sounds while smelling and tasting various compositions of Maidie Van Den Bos made with local products, each refering to either a rural or urban environment.

Celsian Langlois, Convergence locale
Celsian Langlois is interested in cooking food and has made a solar installation. The sun is reflected in the water contained by a transparent tarpaulin. The magnifying effect produced leads to a fire start on the ground. Three supports have been placed to encourage this departure of fire: laurel, twigs, wood. The rotational movement of the sun is seen on the three supports by the various burning braziers. If one of them leads to a real fire start, it is then inserted into the wood-burning stove that will serve to cook the dinner food.

Olivier Nattes, Les possibilités
A set of drawings describes the possible evolution of the farm, from the takeover by the Parti Poétique in March 2017 to 2027.

Maria Lucia Cruz Correia & Gosie Vervloessem, The Table and the Territory Game
Using a game approaching the dominoes, Maria Lucia Cruz Correia and Gosie Vervloessem invite visitors to explore the boundaries of the Urban Farm through imaginary connections and constellations. Each participant put himself in the skin of an entity of the environment (soil, climate, …) to express its feelings.

Theo Omambala & Siobhan McGrath, Offalogy Afrique
The two artists invite visitors to taste different African dishes without revealing their composition. Animal offal, heart, liver, tongue, but also plantain and salad make up this meal, which recalls spiritual offreings to the gods of nature.

And Also :
- Planting questions : On rice leaves, visitors can write in red cabbage ink a question about the farm or the relation to the food, then fill this sheet of vegetables in order to taste it.
- Texts Readings : Readings of the texts created on Saturday morning

Partners

This initiative is financed by the European Union through the Imagine2020 network. The Table and the Territory is also financed by the french ministry of Culture and Communication and by the Carasso Foundation.