kordon lab on food and energy

KORDON invites artists-in-residence from the Nordic and Baltic region to widen the understanding of food in relation to energy. Over a two year cyclical residency following the variety of seasons, the LAB allows the selected participants to create an in-depth relationship to the north-east context and its recurrent political reshapings.

We recognise food as a carrier of locality and culture wherein techniques such as smoking, drying, salting and fermenting have been necessary transformations of energy sources to sustain life in the northern hemisphere.

This connection has been disappearing with the separation of food production from its origin and the artificial refinement of produce – maintaining the social and economic status quo of globalisation.

How can we identify other modes than production and consumption?

How to merge traditional techniques with contemporary knowledge?

How can transdisciplinary practices propose alternative relations to food and energy?

The grounds and the context of the residency, situated on the Unesco biosphere reserve amidst the Baltic Sea on Hiiumaa island in Estonia, forms a starting point for further engagement between the residents’ artistic practices, the locality and its inhabitants. By inviting residents to map, reflect and transform techniques and knowledge of food in relation to energy – we seek for a paradigm shift in our perception of making human and other-than-human life possible.

STRUCTURE

Each resident will be invited for apx. 11 weeks of residency that is divided between three different time periods (each period with a duration of apx. 1 month) to emphasise the long-term process in relation to the change of seasons.

SUMMER/AUTUMN 2023

• 3 weeks from August 7.08. - 27.08.2023
• or
• 3 weeks from September 4.09. - 24.09.2023

First residency period is characterised by research and mapping which takes place in late summer/early autumn 2023 – a time of abundance and the possibility of harvesting.

WINTER/SPRING 2024

• 2-4 weeks between January 15.01. - 11.02.2024
• or
• 2-4 weeks between February 12.02. - 10.03.2024

Second residency period is characterised by testing and experimenting which takes place in winter/early spring 2024 – a time for reflection and learning.

SUMMER 2024

• 4 weeks from July 01.07. - 28.07.2024 (group residency)

Third residency period is characterised by shaping and finalising the artistic ideas during the peak of summer 2024 – the liveliest time on the island wherein artworks will be opened to the public.

Resident’s contribution throughout the residency: artist talk and open studio, working on an individual project and/or a collective work-in-progress presentation.

Resident’s contribution upon completion: installation, intervention or other materialised artistic gesture that will be shared with the public leaving a trace to the grounds of KORDON.