Tanja Nellemann Poulsen
SUGAR BABY
– You Choose the Centre of the Periphery Yourself! Or What a Beet Harvester Cannot Manage Alone
What does identity mean to rural dwellers? Can sugar be of significance to identity? What defines the special identity of a region?
In October, a text will be inscribed in two beet fields in letters so large they will be visible from the air. The text links together sugar, song lyrics, beet production and Lolland, and will be created in collaboration with a group of young people from the Production School in Nykøbing Falster, while the letters will be formed by harvesting beets from the field using traditional manual harvesting methods.
Denmark has been producing sugar beets since 1872, when the Lolland Sugar Factory was built. Today, just two sugar factories remain in Denmark, in Nakskov and Nykøbing Falster, respectively. Beet production is consequently highest in this region, and farmers here have long family traditions of cultivating sugar beets. Like a replay of the production conditions of bygone times, Tanja Nellemann Poulsen’s participatory land art project refers to how and by whom the beets have been harvested over the years.
The project will be exhibited at Danmarks Sukkermuseum (the Danish Sugar Museum) along with sketches, postcards and texts from the workshops with the young people. After the beet harvest and the creation of the text, aerial photographs and film will also be exhibited.
From 25 October to 14 November you can also visit the fields and walk through the giant text.
The first beet harvest and land art performance will take place at Urne Havn on 19-20 October from 10am-4pm.
The second beet harvest and land art performance will take place at Lungholmon 23-24 October from 10am-4pm.
– You Choose the Centre of the Periphery Yourself! Or What a Beet Harvester Cannot Manage Alone
What does identity mean to rural dwellers? Can sugar be of significance to identity? What defines the special identity of a region?
In October, a text will be inscribed in two beet fields in letters so large they will be visible from the air. The text links together sugar, song lyrics, beet production and Lolland, and will be created in collaboration with a group of young people from the Production School in Nykøbing Falster, while the letters will be formed by harvesting beets from the field using traditional manual harvesting methods.
Denmark has been producing sugar beets since 1872, when the Lolland Sugar Factory was built. Today, just two sugar factories remain in Denmark, in Nakskov and Nykøbing Falster, respectively. Beet production is consequently highest in this region, and farmers here have long family traditions of cultivating sugar beets. Like a replay of the production conditions of bygone times, Tanja Nellemann Poulsen’s participatory land art project refers to how and by whom the beets have been harvested over the years.
The project will be exhibited at Danmarks Sukkermuseum (the Danish Sugar Museum) along with sketches, postcards and texts from the workshops with the young people. After the beet harvest and the creation of the text, aerial photographs and film will also be exhibited.
From 25 October to 14 November you can also visit the fields and walk through the giant text.
The first beet harvest and land art performance will take place at Urne Havn on 19-20 October from 10am-4pm.
The second beet harvest and land art performance will take place at Lungholmon 23-24 October from 10am-4pm.
Related:
Artists:
Søren Rajszik, afdelingsleder, Produktionsskolen i Maribo
Det er et lidt specielt projekt, men rigtig sjovt at få noget nyt at lave, og at der skal tages billeder fra luften. Spændende også at prøve at arbejde, som de gamle gjorde tidligere. Tanja har ikke bare fået idéen, men hjælper også selv til. Og så er det et anderledes projekt end dem, man normalt er med i.
Unge elever fra Produktionsskolen i Maribo
Det sætter snakken i gang om, om man har lyst til at bo i udkanten, og det bliver et nej. Ikke så langt ude. Det ligger godt i forhold til vand og skov, men det bliver ligesom for langt væk fra alle hverdagstingene.
Sofie Rousing, elev på Multicenter Syd
Både Tanja Nellemann Poulsen og de involverede elever fra Produktionsskolen gik til værkerne med iver og engagement, ømme rygge og lægge i en vældig happening blandt aftoppede sukkerroer og saftige roeblade. Kunne markerne fortælle, ville det blive en lang historie om svenske, polske og danske roearbejdere, som sled sig krumbøjede, dengang roedyrkningen for alvor tog fart, og mekaniseringen endnu ikke havde holdt sit indtog, frem til nutidens intensive maskinelle dyrkning. Skriften i roemarkerne gav tid til eftertanke, og budskaberne var en tydelig understregning af, at roekampagnen er i fuld gang lige nu og her i efteråret. Som altid i det lollandske efterår. Men roeoptagere skriver ikke budskaber under høsten på kryds og tværs. Det gør mennesker – som Tanja og sjakket fra produktionsskolen. Og det
er en kunst.
Torsten Elsvor, redaktør, formand for Museum Polakkasernen
Ved Urne kom der minibusser med besøgende fra plejehjemmene. Det var en oplevelse at se og høre, hvordan de gamle, der alle i deres unge dage havde arbejdet i markerne, ville forklare de unge, at de skulle ryste roerne rene for jord ved at ryste to ad gangen imod hinanden. Efter de samtaler var der ingen tvivl om, at arbejdet med sukkerroerne har givet identitet til alle, der har arbejdet med dem. Tanja og Produktionsskolen var med Tumult med til igen at skabe liv i roemarkerne. Det var en stor oplevelse at se, hvorledes projektet lykkedes, ved at Tanja gik foran, og alle fulgte efter. Der var en rigtig god stemning, og jeg er sikker på, at alle deltagere vil huske projektet som en blanding af mange gode oplevelser.
Preben Jelsbak, formand for bestyrelsen for Danmarks Sukkermuseum