WE ARE CREATING A POTATO FIELD
The Nivaagaard Collection is inviting all residents of Nivå to grow potatoes this summer. The potato field is 900 m2 large on a plot that the museum has just laid out on the lawn west of Nivå Shopping Mall (Nivå centeret). Here, children and adults can be part of planting, earthing up, and growing a potato crop together from May to August – and there will be a harvest festival at the end on 28 August in connection with the annual Nivå Day.
The idea for the field came from the artist Danh Vo and the chef Christian F. Puglisi, which both grew up in Nivå. Vo came to Denmark as a refugee from Vietnam and Puglisi is originally from Sicily. They each work in their respective fields, but both are passionate about nature and cultivating the land. Both of them want the potato field to make people better understand local production of food, the state of nature, sustainability and let people spend time together as a community.
The Michelin Chef Christian F. Puglisi came to Nivå at the age of seven, and he still remembers the scents of spices from all over the world filling the corridors of his apartment block in Islandshøjparken, where he lived together with neighbours from various ethnic backgrounds. The potato field is an edible tribute to the diversity in the world and a down-to-earth reminder of how we humans depend on the earth and its crops. Puglisi points out that in this part of the world, we tend to see the potato as something very Danish, but in fact – like so many other things – it is something that we have imported and it is one of the most international crops. The potato field will have approximately 35 different varieties of potatoes with different tastes, shapes and colours. At the harvest festival at the conclusion of the project, Puglisi himself will be behind the pots and cook dishes from the potato harvest.
HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE
We will be planting the potatoes on:
THURSDAY 27 MAY, AT 3 P.M. – 6 P.M.
There will be served coffee and doughnuts to everyone who helps out, made by the guys from the micro company Mind your own business.
The potatoes will be earthed up between 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. on
TUESDAY THE 8TH OF JUNE
TUESDAY THE 15TH OF JUNE
TUESDAY THE 22ND OF JUNE
You can decide for yourself how long you want to take part in earthing up the potatoes. All participants will get a free meal. Meals are served from 4:30 p.m.
HARVEST FESTIVAL ON 28TH AUGUST, AT 3 P.M. – 8 P.M.
It will all take place in the field west of Nivå Shopping Mall (Nivå Centeret).
DANH VO PRESENTS – INTERDISCIPLINARY INSPIRATIONS
The potato field is part of a multi-year collaboration between the Nivaagaard Collection and the Danish-Vietnamese artist Danh Vo titled Danh Vo presents.
In 2020, Vo presented his favourite artists from his own collection which have been a major influence on his own art at the museum. In 2021, Vo will present inspirational personalities from other fields outside of the walls of the collection: a chef and a scientist introduced by the ART2030 organisation, which unites art with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Read more here.
WE WANT TO EXPRESS OUR THANKS TO:
Det Obelske Familiefond
ART2030
Fredensborg Municipality, Nordsjællands Vej og Park for being eager to collaborate and lend us the lawn in which we will create this year’s potato field. The field has been established by NSVP and is part of the municipality’s focus on improving biodiversity.
The potato field is a joint project between Nivå School, Nivå Nu, Nivå Library, the Danish Art Ambassadors (Kunstambassadørerne) and the residents of Nivå.
Grades 0-1 from Nivå School will help put the first potatoes in the ground in May and combine this with learning about the potato in general. The young art ambassadors from the ‘Hjemme i kunsten’ (‘At home in art’) project will help cultivate the potato field throughout the project.