A Nomadic Garden

De Hoop is a short film and the final phase of the project De Hoop, a nomadic garden. Situated in the city of Leuven, Belgium, Katinka de Jonge, Laurens Mariën, Zoë Brennan and Marie Malingreau, together with more than a hundred local residents, grew every ingredient of the typical Belgian fast food dish: fries with mayonnaise. Not only did they grow their own potatoes and mustard, they also looked for a way to extract salt from seawater, pressed oil from home-grown sunflowers and made vinegar by fermenting wild berries. They investigated what it means to take the production process of a mass product into their own hands, and asked themselves questions about ecology, cooperation and gardening as connecting elements in a neighborhood. And since they all had no experience with gardening and had done a project around it, it seemed appropriate to choose video as a medium for reporting and reflecting on the process. After all, they had never made a film before. The short film provides an insight into the process the makers went through and reflects on the doubts and absurdities that arose during the bumpy journey. With a humorous view, the film is illustrative of the sense and nonsense of social-artistic projects and touches on the ethical and aesthetic issues that arise during the creative process.

See the teaser here.