Heirloom seeds bank
2018
10000 years of agriculture have created diverse and sustainable food that we take for granted. Seeds were bred by man and passed from generation to generation in the world, which created a variety of cultural heritage seeds.Heritage seeds are open-pollinated seeds that carry a history and pass on a story over time. They retain the traits passed on by their parents and in this way allow farmers to preserve their seeds.The development of industrialized agriculture, which favors traits suitable for mass production, has destroyed heritage seeds.
The traditional cycle of keeping pollination seeds open has been disrupted by seed companies, who force entire communities to buy seeds from them, season after season. Control over the seeds has moved from agricultural communities to a number of global corporations. This has caused the destruction of communities, mass migration from villages to cities.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, 75% of agricultural genetic diversity has disappeared.
Today, plant seeds are collected and kept in a seed bank, in different parts of the world. The purpose of these collections is to preserve heritage seeds and thus preserve the cultural connection to traditional agriculture and food sources in human culture for thousands of years.
In this necklace, I collected the seeds in test tubes which I set in a circle like precious stones. I arranged the seeds according to their geographical origin. I created a kind of global "seed bank".
The round necklace is inspired by the circle of life.
Materials: test tubes, brass, seeds
34 x 1 cm
