Beyond its literal meaning – fructifying the earth – cultivating is defined as taking an interest in something in order to develop the skills to do better. Given the current peril to the air, the earth, the water, and Earth’s biodiversity – elements necessary to the existence of all species – it is high time to turn to ways of cultivating that encourage abundance with the earth and not to its detriment. How can local communities reclaim their means of survival, their food and medicinal sovereignty? Can we become aware of those who feed us, and pay them our respect?
1
Buckwheat and Saskatoon rosebush, Zoé Fortier.
2
Indian hymenoptera / Indian Megachile species, Zoological Society of London, vol. 7, 1872.
3
Vitrail, Zoé Fortier, 2018.
4
Still from the film L’Arroseur arrosé, Lumière brothers, 1895, 45 s.
Buckwheat and Saskatoon rosebush, Zoé Fortier.
2
Indian hymenoptera / Indian Megachile species, Zoological Society of London, vol. 7, 1872.
3
Vitrail, Zoé Fortier, 2018.
4
Still from the film L’Arroseur arrosé, Lumière brothers, 1895, 45 s.
5
Excerpt from Barbara Marcel’s essay “The Gardener, the Rubber Tapper, and the Herbalist,” in The Work of Wind: Land, ed. Christine Shaw and Etienne Turpin (K. Verlag, 2018).
6
Miijim: Food as Relations roundtable, “Indigenous Food Sovereignties,” Finding Flowers Project, October 7, 2020.
7
Digital drawings from Hannah Claus’s project interlacings, 2015.
Excerpt from Barbara Marcel’s essay “The Gardener, the Rubber Tapper, and the Herbalist,” in The Work of Wind: Land, ed. Christine Shaw and Etienne Turpin (K. Verlag, 2018).
6
Miijim: Food as Relations roundtable, “Indigenous Food Sovereignties,” Finding Flowers Project, October 7, 2020.
7
Digital drawings from Hannah Claus’s project interlacings, 2015.
8
Silvino Santos and Joaquim Gonçalves de Araújo, No País das Amazonas, 1922, 127 min.
9
Stills from the film Maniok reibe ich dir, Schwesterchen (2013–19), video installation by Barbara Marcel and Ana Hupe, 13 min and 43 min.
Excerpt from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (Milkweed Editions, 2014), 124.
Silvino Santos and Joaquim Gonçalves de Araújo, No País das Amazonas, 1922, 127 min.
9
Stills from the film Maniok reibe ich dir, Schwesterchen (2013–19), video installation by Barbara Marcel and Ana Hupe, 13 min and 43 min.
Excerpt from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (Milkweed Editions, 2014), 124.