In Resting with the Land, Hungarian artist Eva Bubla invites the audience to an artistic exploration and mapping of the Gudeberg soil in Fredrikstad, the local ecosystem and our relationship to soil and food production..

Østfold Internasjonale Teater (ØIT) has invited Bubla til Norge, as part of the project (UN)COMMON SPACES. From May to September 2024, she will create a living, interactive installation on Gudebergjordet – a publicly owned agricultural plot right under the iconic Fredrikstad Bridge. The work in 2024 will include activities such as collective cultivation, harvesting and cooking; small constructions highlighting sensory experiences (smell, touch, sound, taste); workshops tailored to different audiences and a curated dialogical program.

As early as May 2023, Bubla will be in place as an artist in residence. Until June, she will live in a caravan in the middle of Gudebergjordet. Here she invites the people of Fredrikstad for both visits and workshops!

Program

Noble Silence, 12.-16. mai

«Noble Silence» at Gudebergjordet is an exercise in which Bubla will avoid talking to other people for five days. Through silence, she will open her senses to a different kind of experience of the place. Passers-by are welcome to participate in the exercise by following pre-designed exploratory exercises or their own intuition. The condition is that you do not talk to each other and do not use a cell phone or other electronic communication.

Workshops 20. and 27. mai

Free participation, limited number of places

• Saturday, May 20, 2023, 14.00-16.30: Resting with the Land
  Join us in exploring the current state of the Gudeberg soil through sensory mapping and storytelling. Through hands-on exercises, Bubla will focus on the earth’s non-human beings and encourage participants to reflect on the relationship between humans and non-human life.
• Saturday May 27, 2023, 14.00-16.30: Thinking with the Land
  Agricultural activities will be central to Bubla’s work in 2024. In this workshop, the planning of the activities and the use of imagination will be central. Participants’ ideas and considerations will contribute to the further development of the concept and how the installation will be able to offer meaningful experiences as it unfolds over several months in 2024.

Location: Gudebergjordet, meeting point at Fasvo bakery in Spinneriveien
Registration: Monika Stageboe monikastageboe@gmail.com
(remember to write which day you are signing up for)

Gudebergjordet

Gudebergjordet is a large field, most of which is owned by Fredrikstad municipality. A smaller part is owned by Isegran Eiendom AS (which in turn is 100% owned by Fredrikstad municipality). The land is zoned for agricultural purposes and is leased by Borge Gård for operation with a 10-year agreement. There has been controversy over the possible development of housing or a water park on the land, which consists of top quality topsoil. There is also a micro-forest and a micro-wetland formed by water collection from a former brick factory.

Do the inhabitants of Fredrikstad feel that they have a joint management responsibility for Gudebergjordet? This question has inspired Bubla to create a complex, living installation. What she creates can be explored and experienced by everyone – from children to grandparents! The art project will also be an educational project, but on artistic terms and with the use of artistic tools; a creative and sensory adventure of discovery out of the ordinary.

Eva Bubla

Eva Bubla is an artist, activist and educator who explores art as a catalyst in evoking people’s sense of connection with nature (“biophilia”). Her artistic works articulate relevant social and ecological challenges, and are strongly connected to the actual environment and local population where the works are realized. Bubla actively seeks out collaborations with both audiences/residents and other disciplines, and these interactions define each project.

Eva Bubla is an associate artist in IN SITU and in the project (UN)COMMON SPACES, which is co-funded by the EU’s Creative Europe. (UN)COMMON SPACES 2020-2024 is an international collaboration that aims to reinvent the relationship between the cultural sector and civil society.

Eva on the project:

When was the last time you listened to the breath of the earth? Have you ever sat still and watched vegetables sprout? Or tasted your own grown food?

Land is shrinking rapidly in urban environments. Changing climate conditions, soil loss, population growth and political unrest threaten global food security. Norway is known for its rich nature and boreal forests that cover most of the country’s area. However, only 3% of its total territory is arable land, making it one of the least self-sufficient countries in terms of food production.

The world grows 95% of its food in the topsoil, making topsoil one of the most important elements of our food system. Unfortunately, half of prime topsoil has disappeared in the last 150 years due to conventional farming practices, putting crops at risk and contributing to erosion, degradation of microbial life, loss of biodiversity and nutrient pollution. According to Maria-Helena Semedo of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the world could run out of topsoil in a little more than half a century if we continue at this pace. This will damage the soil’s ability to filter water, absorb carbon and feed people.

The topsoil at Gudebergjordet is of premium quality, making it a fertile agricultural area and thus a valuable national resource. It has been part of the city’s land since Fredrikstad was founded in 1567, and the soil has probably been used for food production long before that. It’s close to busy roads and residential areas – what if we stopped and took the time to get to know the land better?

What is our personal or collective relationship with Gudebergjordet? What memories do we share of this place? What kind of stories can the area and those who live here tell? How do we build knowledge about land use and land management? What kind of future can we imagine that takes into account both human and non-human needs?

In the upcoming research residency, “Resting with the Land”, I aim to map and investigate the area of Gudebergjordet, the local ecosystem and agricultural practices, as well as our relationship to land, soil and food production – through living on site and inviting the audience to a series of artistic explorations. The aim of the research is to identify key histories, practices and performances to develop an agriculture-related art project in 2024.