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I like being a farmer and I would like to stay one /
Ich bin gerne Bauer und möchte es auch gerne bleiben

artist Antje Schiffers
year 2001-2009
language(s) German, English
location  GERMANY, Nordhorn (2009, the Staedtische Galerie Nordhorn)
region 4 West (West)
index no. 02.4.01
media Book and DVD
about the media Book about the project 'I like being a farmer and I would like to stay one' (2001-2009) and 19 DVD's made by farmers.
 
 
about the project In 2001 Antje Schiffers launched a project in the Wolfsburg area of Germany called “I like being a farmer and I would like to stay one”. Following the tradition of barter she made oil paintings of local farms, and then gave them to the farmers in exchange for making a video in which they filmed and explained their way of life and work. From 2006 Thomas Sprenger is editing the films with the farmers and is a co-producer of this on-going project.
 
The first presentation was held in 2001 in Kunstverein Wolfsburg. In 2003 she showed the project in her own village, Heiligendorf. This was to mark and celebrate the launch of myvillages.org The videos and paintings were part of a village fair celebrating the 850th anniversary of the village. A stable was turned into a cinema and the videos ran non-stop during the fair. The book is made with Staedtische Galerie Nordhorn; in winter 2009 all painted and filmed farms so far were shown in a solo exhibition of Schiffers & Sprenger.
 
about artist and participants In this project Schiffers cooperates with the farmers. She exchanges oil paintings for videos. The farmers add a commentary to their video films with texts that underline their changing surroundings and give an insight into the daily farming routine. Schiffers earned herself a place to show her work at the fair by joining the team and painting some decorations, thus offering skills that were otherwise not available in the village.
 
Antje Schiffers (Heiligendorf, Germany) lives in Berlin. She is one of the initiators of myvillages.org. Much of her work deals with travelling. In a way, being in transit is the mode of her artistic existence; her journeys are based on exchange. Describing, documenting and communicating this process are part of her work. Since 2006 she works together with Thomas Sprenger. Schiffers was in 2003 one of the founders of myvillages.org
 
organisations Staedtische Galerie Nordhorn / myvillages.org / argosbook
 
sponsors Kultur Stiftung des Bundes and others
 
 
 
 
 
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