Do I actually know what's going on in the village?
30 July 2010
It became clear during the Rhyzom workshop that I myself was right between being an insider and outsider when it came to Höfen. I had insight - but most of it was under threat to become nostalgic, and I was not really able to point out where the current conflict within the village were.
What had happened to the "Flurbereinigung" (Programme to rationalise the farmable land)? Who were all the new people who moved into all those new houses? Was my father right in saying that Höfer Waren was an endangered project because I mainly work with women over 70? etc.etc.
So our plans - as a family - to move to the village for a while got a slightly more acute touch. If myvillages.org didn't want to be nostalgic about rural living , then I definitely shouldn't miss the train with my home village.
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What happened during the clay workshop?
20 July 2010
I was slightly nervous in the running up to the workshop - which was announced as a three day international workshop - and brought together close friends and colleagues, people I ve never met and the women from Höfen who I've known for a long time now. The three days were set up very carefully - with different events with different accessibility, and options for everyone in the village to join in.
And - hurray - it all worked out fine. I think we had three incredibly information packed days, with good solid results and well mixed events at the local community hall, where different groups could set the agenda.
The workshop was organised by me through a EU project called Rhyzom where public works are involved.
Click here to for a link and the workshop report.
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Local Clay Stories and Production
05 May 2010
The RHYZOM workshop is now confirmed to take place in Höfen between the 24th and 26th of May.
We are going to be an exiting mix of individuals who come from very different directions and places, from the very local to the regional and the international, but obviously with enough issues in common to spend three days together.
To see the full programme and list of participants click here.
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THE WORKSHOP SEASON STARTS AGAIN
22 March 2010
In 2010 I am going to connect the ongoing "Höfer Waren" project with and EU funded research and dissemination project called RHYZOM, which is all about local cultural production and translocal dissemination.
Between the 24th and 27th May 2010 a very exiting group will get together in Höfen to discuss, brainstorm and sketch what the next product could be. We'll be looking at local clay, its history and traditions with a particular focus on who it has/is been used by women in their everyday lives. Clay can still be dug on almost any field, and we want to use it to do some fast prototyping followed by a public presentation.
Participants include women from Höfen, members of the RHYZOM initiative, Celine Condorelli and MA architecture students from a42.org from the Academy in Nuremberg and clay and ceramic specialists such as Alexandra Gaba van Dongen from the ceramics collection at the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam,
Michael Back who runs the historic brick making workshop at the Plein Air Museum in Bad Windsheim and Matthias Gunzelmann, a specialist on the local and regional history.
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Plans for 2010
05 January 2010
Höfer Waren are on display as part of a new International Village Shop project at the Kunstverein Springhornhof in Neuenkirchen (Ger).
Höfer Waren didn't happen in 2009 - due to personal circumstances of some of the key people, micro local politics and the fact the group of women didn't want to run a stall themselves.
In 2010 the development and production of a new Höfer Ware will be linked to the ongoing paneuropean cultural project Rhyzom. We're planning a brainstorm and production workshop for spring 2010, around issues of female rural production and the history of local clay.
Throughout 2010 the Höfer Waren will be further distributed through the International Village Shop activities.
The Butterspoon is currently sold out.
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