EXPLORING THE MICROCOSMOS

Exploring the Microcosmos – new paradigms of the microbial communities.
Schumacher College, Devon, Uk 
Workshop 26 – 30 May 2014

If you love life, old ways or science’s newest findings and you enjoy the crunch and pop of real pickles or the satisfying sigh when opening a good brew, this is for you… As we learn how vital the role of microbes are to the health of our ecosystems, interest in fermentation is rising. May 26-30 fermentation revivalist, delightful human and author (Wild Fermentation, The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved and The Art of Fermentation) Sandor Katz is coming to Schumacher College. He is teaming up with fellow cultivator and gentle activist, artist Eva Bakkeslett (TEDx Tromso, Norway), resident ecologist, MSc coordinator at Schumacher College,(Animate Earth and Grow Small, Think beautiful) Dr Stephen Harding and lecturer in complexity and holistic science Philip Franses; who founded and edits the Holistic Science Journal This promises to be a fascinating week, there are spaces, please come or spread the news. For more information about the course and to sing up HERE. 

GUT FEELINGS

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT - Re-imagine and remake

Giving a workshop and talk at United World College Atlantic Sustainability Conference on the 20th March 2014. 
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT - Re-imagine and remake

"How can we turn dreams and ideas into reality? How can sustainability and ecology be incorporated and transformed into creative practice? Practical/aesthetic/poetic workshop to use creative tools and methods to re-imagine the future."

LIVING CULTURE FOODS - CHIDGREEN

An introduction to living culture foods at Chiddgreen, Chiddingfold on the 26th of February.

ILIOS FESTIVAL

Festival artist at the Ilios Festival 30. January -2. February in Harstad, North Norway. Screened the film Breath (Galleri Nord Norge) and Revolution (Galleri Zappa) and Through was screened as prefilm for in Harstad Cinema.

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED

Everything is Connected (Alt henger sammen med alt); an exhibition of six of my films at Galleri Nord-Norge in Harstad, North Norway 18th January - 22nd February 2014.

Some pics from the opening:

ICE - AN AESTHETIC AND POETIC EXPRORATION

ICE - an aesthetic and poetic exploration with 6th grade pupils from Ashley school, Walton on

Themes in Surrey. The sessions included a three day aesthetic exploration of ice through the five

senses; sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. We worked with ice from different perspectives; sculpting

with ice, made ice instruments and jewlery, made time lapse ice-melt films, wrote iceflake poetry,

explored the soundscapes created by ice and explored the transformation of ice in various other ways.

A fantastic group of engaged children in a wonderful school where sustainability is at the core.

BARENTS RESIDENCY

Residency organised by Pikene på Broen, Kirkenes 1st-10th of December 2013. I researched rømmekolle, an indigenous fermented milk "yogurt" that will materialise as a project for the arts festival Barents Spektakkel 2015 in Kirkenes, Norway. I interviewed many elderly people in Sør Varanger county about their rømkolle traditions and nearly got hold of an old heirloom culture that had been cultivated by the 92 year old Ovidia Kurti since childhood. Unfortunately it had died 4 months previous to my arrival (!), probably due to her using shop bought milk that must have been contaminated by antibiotics. I am still looking for a culture, and also looking into other ways of creating the starter from a mountain plant.
I also researched milk fermentation in Murmansk, North Russia, and had the pleasure of meeting a lovely family from Tjetchenia and a lady from Arkangelsk. They both had amazing foraging traditions that they introduced me to but unfortunately thy had no fermented milk traditions in their areas. I would hva to travel all the way to Caucasus next time!