At the Harvest feast / Oland
year 2006
location SWEDEN, Fargestaden, Oland
region East
host Kultivator, Agri - Kulturell Plattform

about the travel After meeting the Bibliobox and Wapke Feenstra in the “New rural creativity” conference in Lancaster, England, Kultivator asked to lend the Bibliobox to Sweden and the village Dyestad for the annual Harvest feast.
 
The village Dyestad (28 inhabitants) is located on the island Öland, on the southeast cost of Sweden. The islands main sustenance is tourist industry and farming. Since the mid- 1900, Öland is also home to many artists, foremost modernist painters, that seek the special light and landscape. Every year in September, a big festival is held called the “Harvestfeast” with local products markets and events. It opens with an open atelier-night, were artists all over the island exhibits and sell their paintings.
 
In this weekend, Kultivator also offered a program for the many visitors of the island. “the agri – cultural filmfestival” was on for three days, showing films like “Bullshit” over the anti globalist heroin Vendana Shiva from India, “Le eldorado de plastique” over migrant workers in tomato greenhouses in Andalucia, “Yellow tag” over EU id – tags for cattle, and more. The self produced “Dinner with the cows”, shot on previous year harvestfeast was also shown. In the re-built stables of Kultivator a brand new agri-culture shop had its official opening with organic vegetables from the farm and fair – trade products for sale, and the exhibition “ceramic animal” from Oslo based artist Marlene Lindmark.
 
In what will become the archive of Kultivator, the Bibliobox was set up, next to “the white cube made out of cow dung” from Danish artist Benn Sena. Outside the stable Swedish artist Sofia Sundberg showed her “fountain”, a rain and wind directed sculpture. In the opening night the audience were invited to join in a celebration of combine harvester machines, “Rage of the machine” on a nearby field. All in all a few hundred visited Kultivator and the bibliobox during the harvest feast. On the photos we see “Ölands konstskola”, a 2 year preparation art school from the island checking the content of the bibliobox.

about the host Kultivator is an experimental cooperation of organic farming (Dyestad eko gård) and visual art practice (Art initiative 16:2), situated in rural village Dyestad, on the island Öland on the southeast coast of Sweden.
 
By installing certain functions in abandoned farm facilities, near to the active agriculture community, Kultivator provides a meeting and working space that points out the parallels between provision production and art practice, between concrete and abstract processes for survival. Kultivator started building up late autumn 2005, and will be under construction until the summer of 2007.
 
September 2006 a few locations had already opened. The Agri – culture shop with provision from local organic farmers, artproducts, local service mediating, information point over adjoining nature reserves and farming, In - site with Kultivator with premises for meetings, seminars, screenings, etc., Out - site with outdoor spaces in old forest and grazing land for permanent or temporary installations/activities and The white cube made out of cow dung, for exhibitions and gatherings. Still under construction is the Guestatelier/projectroom, where artists and others can work (apply with specific projects).

links www.kultivator.org