II. Gardens 4 All
Hamburg DE | 2008
PART II: KITCHEN TABLE DIPLOMACY
Installation: The “home as commons”–an old kitchen table, chairs, a chest with jars of seeds; plants in baskets, drawers and plastic travel bags. Stage: gallery outdoor patio. Performance: Culture/Nature opening day, a grand garden tasting event hosted by local community gardeners (especially Intercultural Garden). Others include “kleine garten” representatives like Jürge Wüpper, who amazed all by presenting his own Wihelmsburg grown red wine. The kitchen stayed in place throughout the exhibition, an invitation to eat and drink together, to exchange ideas, news, or practical gardening expertise. It became the exhibition’s meeting/gathering place and site of weekly group barbecues.
PUBLIC INVITATION & PERFORMANCE SCRIPT
“KITCHEN TABLE—TASTY CONVERSATIONS”
WHAT: improvisational conversation to explore local gardening joys and merits.
WHEN: Saturday, August 16, 2008
WHERE: Tonne gallery patio alongside the Canal
SETTING: On the patio is a long table, surrounded by growing garden plants. It represents everyone’s own kitchen table. Although our lives are unique, we share the concept of the kitchen table as a special place to nurture health and ideas.
PERFORMANCE:
Gardeners bring samples of food grown by them and wear clothes representative of their garden. Baskets provided to hold food, unless gardeners prefer to bring something of their own. While talking to guests, they slice vegetables into small tastes offered to stimulate palettes and conversation.
Gardeners invite guests to sit, to taste, to talk. They talk about their own gardens–how/why they like to grow their own food; how to start a small garden or join a group; special tips for growing healthy organic food locally. They listen, too. It’s an informal exchange, as among family and friends.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Haarmann, Ake, & Lemke, Harald. “Culture/Nature
Art and Philosophy In The Context Of Urban Development.”
