SUMMER SEMINAR REPORT
Reilly Miller

 

A report on the summer seminar Towards perma-cultural institutions: Exercises in collective thinking at Stiftung Künstlerdorf Schöppingen

Almost 8 months have passed since the Summer Seminar at the Stiftung Künstlerdorf in Schöppingen

Aneta, Nada, and I arrived together in Schöppingen after leaving Cologne earlier that morning.
Beyond our group, I arrived to the village as a stranger
And was softly met by a curation of curators and a garden blooming.
This will be a week that remains technicolor in my mind:
Each bite of each meal lined my stomach with an earthly love and intention
And not only was rest encouraged, it was respected
I made a friend with Johanna, she was the other young person and intern.
A few nights later into the week we found ourselves laying belly-up
Talking at the moon and the stars about ourselves and existence.

The photos I made are monochrome,
They seal the colors from that week in my mind.
I like to imagine these images as stills from the reels of my memory
Those of which I am so grateful to have collected.
They exist in the shelves of my mind
alongside the other relics and morsels of that week.
Seeds, foraged foods, vegetal inspiration, mycelial moments.

These moments
where I felt warmth and tenderness
connection, curiosity, admiration, intrigue,
worthy, inspired, cognisant, and desire.

The knowledge that can be gained when sharing intimate, safe space with others is, to me, the most valuable transaction that exists under the context of capitalist culture. And capitalism has made togetherness a privilege in a way. I acknowledge that time away cannot be afforded by so many and still I hold in the same palm, the weight of gratitude. Grateful to have met, in one week, many souls committed to learning, unlearning, and applying their knowledge so that the institutions we work across and within can feel the forces of our strength.

Reilly A. Miller. 12.03.2023.

Images
1—Herb butter with petals made together with Paula, 2022.
2—We listen to someone in the group speak, 2022.
3—Felipe in line for dinner, 2022.
4—A basket of fresh herbs from the surrounding land of the Künstlerdorf sits in the sun; they will be eaten later, 2022.
5—Paula gently cuts a potato for our meal, 2022.
6—Yoeri’s dried clippings lie ready for us to collect and catalog their seeds, 2022.

Photos: Reilly Miller