Exploring the Urban Garden as Refuge. Gardening & Conversations

In the organizer's words:

(German below)

Workshop with Fetewei Tarekegn

Why do urban dwellers yearn for a garden? In the many years that Fetewei Tarekegn has strived to make urban gardens accessible, especially for minorities, what has been ever-present was the expression of need by city dwellers for the garden as a space that replenishes the body and feeds the soul. What is it that makes the garden in particular a space of refuge for the unwanted and "illegal"? While we change and convert abandoned urban spaces into gardens, how do those spaces change us, and what is that change (in both ways)? What is the future of such garden spaces in a gentrifying city and how can we keep them open and alive?

In this summer Sunday workshop, you will learn and practice various gardening skills, like composting, pruning, planting, weeding, working in a greenhouse, and cooking veggies. You can build and share your gardening skills, get to know a neighbourhood garden in a former gardening school, while jointly experiencing and considering what are the qualities that make an urban garden special, especially from marginalized perspectives. How do aspects of class and race intersect with and shape the PLANT STORIES of gardening? And how do we want to organize, maintain and build community gardens? This workshop is both a practical exercise, and a collective experience and exchange on urban gardening. It is open to anyone interested in spending an active Sunday in the garden together.

Free entry. Please register a free ticket.

FETEWEI TAREKEGN is a curator, urban gardener, creator and host of a radio show focused on the experience of migration and migrants to the western world. Born and raised in Ethiopia, he graduated with a degree in agriculture from a university in Ethiopia in the mid-2000s. He moved to Germany for further studies in sustainable food production at a school near Stuttgart. He has lived in Berlin since 2015, pursuing new ways of creating sustainable urban spaces that can foster gardening & greenery and promote intercultural connections. He consults various projects in this field and produces radio shows and documentaries on this and many other subjects.

This workshop is part of PLANT STORIES. See the full program here: https://www.zku-berlin.org/timeline/plant-stories/.

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German

Workshop with Fetewei Tarekegn

Why do people in the city long for a garden? In the many years that Fetewei Tarekegn has been developing urban gardens and making them accessible, especially for minorities, the need of city dwellers for gardens as a place that regenerates body and soul has always been present. What makes the garden a place of refuge for society's 'illegals' and undesirables? When we transform urban wastelands into gardens, how do these gardens change us and what exactly does this change consist of (on both sides)? What does the future of urban gardens look like in an increasingly gentrified city and how can we keep them open, accessible and alive?

This workshop on a summer Sunday is about learning and practicing different skills such as composting, pruning, planting, weeding, working in the greenhouse and cooking vegetables. You will develop your gardening skills in a neighborhood garden in a former horticultural school. It is also about the shared experience and reflection on what qualities make an urban garden special, especially from marginalized perspectives. How do factors of class and race influence the PLANT STORIES of gardening? And how do we want to organize, maintain and further develop community gardens? The workshop is open to anyone who wants to spend an active Sunday in the garden.

Free admission. With registration.

FETEWEI TAREKEGN is a curator, urban gardener, and initiator and host of a radio program that deals with the experiences of migration and migrants in the Western world. Born and raised in Ethiopia, he graduated in agriculture from a university in Ethiopia in the mid-2000s. He moved to Germany to study sustainable food production near Stuttgart. Since 2015 he has been living in Berlin, where he is working on new ways to create sustainable urban spaces that promote gardening and plant diversity as well as intercultural connections. He advises various projects here and produces radio programs and documentaries on these and many other topics.

The workshop is part of the PLANT STORIES series. The entire program: https://www.zku-berlin.org/timeline/plant-stories/.