Location: Shatwell, UK
Date: 2019
Programme: Scenography
Client: Matchett & Page,
Drawing Matter
Status: Completed
Area: 1 ha
Budget: Confidential
Team: Traumnovelle (architects) Photography: Zachary Mollica
Before the feast, we parade across the sunny valley, gathering its bounty in a celebratory dance. We pick some fruit from the trees and children reach among vines, staining their faces with sweetness. Under the attentive eye of the chickens, we dig up roots from the rich humus. We collect some vegetables at the foot of the trees and gather odorant herbs and flowers. The newcomers follow us cautiously, as if still unaware that their plight has ended. Mid-afternoon, proud and jubilant, we light a fire and begin preparation of the summer feast. As we tend, clean, cut and season, we tell them the story of our valley.
One year ago, we made our way, bruised, exhausted and terrified, through the brambles up the road. As we took cover for the night under an abandoned shed, we stumbled upon mysterious artefacts of a different time. Stone, concrete and crumbling plaster elements reminiscent of powerful constructions with strong ideals for future societies. The following days, we cleared passages through thorny bushes to old stone walls with mouldy doors and stumbled upon more magnificent treasures than we could have possibly imagined. In a low-lying building along the hillside, many different stories of alternate worlds drawn out with pens, pencils and collage. In a shed, we found tools and precious writings about food growing. As we began clearing the land, we soon found that its wild vegetation was bountiful and generous.
Elsewhere in the world, perhaps, people are still suffering as we did. With this first harvest, we have vowed to spread our good fortune.
