A Picture Book Journey
Gardens of Care
Textile stories of the healing power of plants
What do we need to take care of ourselves?
What does health mean to us, and what spaces and forms of knowledge can we turn to in order to stay healthy in a system that makes us sick?
Could the garden be a place we return to when we need to heal? How can we imagine gardens of care in urban contexts where access to nature and land is difficult?
For six months, a group of women* artists and activists linked to different initiatives in the Neukölln neighborhood, met regularly at the Spore Initiative to critically reflect on these questions and to stitch their response: They planted a garden anyway ; a collective garden made from embroidered plants, memories, flavors and scents.
Even in the absence of land, with fabric and thread they created a place to seek refuge, to heal, to mutually learn from each other, and to share time in community. This garden opens up another way of (well)being – one that takes into account the complexities of life, its journeys and challenges, and the social, ecological and economic structures and injustices that continue to deeply affect women's* bodies and health.
Artists: Payman Bagsada, Nasiib Ahmed Mahamoud, Nursen Özen, Hanaa El Degham, Helena Her, Elem Deniz, Behjat Tatai, Denise Weber, Bahar Salim, Helen Wong, Shukrya Ali, Marta Lepkowska.
Facilitation and co-curation: Georgina Espasa & Magdalena Wiener, Spore Initiative
Partners: Schillerwerkstatt, Stadtteilmütter Rollberg, Koopkultur and Yekmal e.V.
A project by Spore Initiative in collaboration with artist Georgina Espasa who, in her role as artistic mediator, accompanied the collective creative process of the group.
With workshop contributions by Abeni Asante, Karen Michelsen Castañón, Sara Diaz Rodriguez | HILO.
