A roaming tour of Swiss culture around Tulse Hill Estate
A collaboration with Rosalie Schweiker
Saturday 22 October 2011
Part of The Ambassadors – a project in collaboration with Alex Meszmer and Reto Müller (zeitgarten.ch), Rosalie Schweiker and Grace Cookey-Gam, with the participation of residents of Tulse Hill Estate (South London) and Pfyn (Switzerland).
Commissioned for Democratic Art Weeks 2011-2012, a year long programme of collaborative, participatory and interactive projects for Pfyn – Cultural Capital of Switzerland. Curated by zeitgarten.ch.
Using all the gifts brought back from Pfyn during my first visit there, and a wheelbarrow borrowed from Our Garden, me and Rosalie put together this beautiful Swiss lady. We have intended to wear the dirnl ourselves but it was too cold, and anyway, the dress looked nicer on the trolley. We even gave her the face of Pfyn’s Mayor!
The Swiss wheelbarrow was loaded with apple cake (freshly baked by Rosalie), an assortment of sweets and chocolates, a raclette, a book made by the children of Pfyn explaining the history of their village, photographs of Pfyners and their homes, recipes for making body cream with marigolds, and an i-shuffle loaded with songs performed by Pfyn’s choirs.
We took the wheelbarrow around the Estate, and shared the contents with those we encountered in the way. This was part of an effort to spread the word about The Ambassadors, and to find residents who might be interested in visiting Pfyn. In January 2012, a small delegation of Tulse Hill Estate residents will be traveling to Pfyn for further exchanges.
Posted on October 23, 2011