Creating a New Vision from Potato Perspective; A Scandinavian/Japanese Dialogue on “Farming and Art” Åsa Sonjasdotter + Toshiaki Tomita

In the aftermath of the devastating Great Tohoku Earthquake and the following disaster caused by the nuclear power plant meltdown, I for one came to think that this is the time to reconsider our relationship with the earth, in order to find a new perspective for life in this difficult time of ours.

Potato Perspective is an ongoing art project by a Swedish artist Åsa Sonjasdotter. I was fortunate to meet Sonjasdotter through an exchange art project between Denmark and Japan from 2000-2004. Through working with her, I was inspired by the Scandinavian version of “People’s Art.” When I relocated from Tokyo to Hokkaido in 2010, I wanted to give her Potato Perspective a chance to migrate to Hokkaido soil, so that we could illuminate our relationship with this land in a new light. In this project in Hokkaido. I like to grow Japanese version of Potato Perspective in a dialogue with Sonjasdotter.

In Potato Perspective Sonjasdotter focuses on the relationship between human and cultivated plants, particularly the potatoes and its meaning in terms of modernization. She had visited Navdanya, India, where farmers share locally bred varieties of rice, wheat and beans from season to season. The farmers of Navdanya have taken a stand against global commercial farming such as the Green Revolution and they insist on a non-commercial and non-chemical future in their villages. Back in Scandinavia, she wanted to transfer her experience into the European context. She thought the potato would be a comparable, basic, staple product for the Scandinavian region, and so she collected some old varieties of potato to plant. However, she soon learned that these potatoes had another story to tell: firstly, the global migration from the Andean mountains to the many countries where they become staple crops. Secondly, restrictions imposed by the registration regulations of the EU. Thirdly, the genetic engineering and property rights of cultivated plants. From this potato-perspective, Sonjasdotter found a rather different, but at the same time clearly connected situation in Scandinavia and Europe compared to the one experienced by the organized farmers of Navdanya in India. This became the starting point for a longer investigation in the complex issues of knowledge and power through the cultivated potato plant.

Now about 20 varieties of potato are collected throughout Japan, and each variety also has a unique story to tell. They are planted and grown in three locations around Sapporo; in a mobile farm in Hokkaido University Campus (an old colonial reference), in a newly established Eco College in Yoichi that is a sustainable life education centre (an organic and resilient approach), and kitchen gardens (a house hold economy). In late August 2014, Sonjasdotter will visit Sapporo and we will all gather to study and discuss issues surrounding potatoes, we will harvest new potatoes and share new stories. I hope this Japanese version of Potato Perspective will enrich us and give us a broader vision for the future.

Events:

Title: SIAF collaborative program: Round table “Plants, agriculture and life in Sapporo”
Date: Augusut 10th ~ 14:00~16:00
Place: Former Sapporo court of appeals (Shiryokan)

Title: Lecture + Workshop “sticking the fingers in the ground: a potatoes’ perspective on diversity and democracy”
Date: Augusut 24th, 10:00~16:00
Place: Enyuu Gakusha Community Hall

Title: Exhibition + Workshop “sticking the fingers in the ground: a potatoes’ perspective on diversity and democracy”
Date: Augusut 30th ~ September 6th, 10:00~17:00
Place: Former Sapporo court of appeals (Shiryokan)

Title: Workshop “Urban agriculture of Sapporo”
Date:
August 23rd 14:00~16:00
Potato Perspective 1 – Creating a New Vision from Potato Perspective
September 6th 14:00~16:00
Potato Perspective 2 – Project report
Place: Former Sapporo court of appeals (Shiryokan)

URL：http://www.potatoperspective.org/
Email：izuminohanashi@gmail.com (Toshiaki Tomita)