Salad Song
August 26, 2005
By now we are all well aware of the profound relationship between the citizens of Bejing and Montpellier. Therefore it should come as no surprise when the Occitanian cultural powers that be deem it high time for an ‘international biennial’ of Chinese contemporary art in their fair city. And why the heq not, if every other city can have one why shouldn’t Montpellier?
Of particular interest to me was Song Dong’s (Beijing, PRC) leafy greens installation at the entrance of the Pavillon du MusĂ©e Fabre. The work is titled, ‘Art after Da Zhai’ and I have done my best translating the programme description thusly:
Song Dong uses one of Maoist China’s most important political catchphrases, “Agriculture takes example from DaZhai.” In the Sixties, the peasants of this village of Shanxi multiplied their grain production by seven and Mao Zedong presented Da Zhai with the ‘red banner’. The mountains carved in terraces by the farmers became a political emblem.
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Seed
August 19, 2005
Pick the fruit you like, and its seed is for the taking. Everyone does it. ‘Shake your moneymaker’ is the name of one of the fruits. Or maybe it was just moneymaker.
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Yurt and garden
August 13, 2005
My garden at three and a half weeks old, is thriving! My yurt, set up at the edge of a vineyard, with views into two river valleys and mountains on all sides, is now little more than a glorified bedroom, shouting distance from the ‘real house’ in town.
But in one week’s time a very special guest will arrive and we will among other things, live, and cook (!!!) at the yurt without the support of a proper kitchen. And because I am not a practical woman by nature, I have my heart set upon the notion that the yurt-cooking menu should consist primarily of food originating from my pre-pubescent garden. So I’m digging my toe in the dirt and wondering what kind of grits can a gal dish up using corn, tomatoes, several kinds of lettuce, rocket, chard, red chicory, mint, basil, sorrel, coreander, and everything but the squeal of a radish and a beet using nothing but a BBQ-for-one and an Occitanian 2-ring burner.
Fortunately, he’s a vegetarian.
images from t to b: author slash subsistence farmer surveys her harvest possibilities, yurt lighting, flashed-view from the foot of bed.
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