Participants
As part of the Småland Biennial, the Vandalorum art and design museum in Värnamo will launch the Grassroots Movement this summer, an educational project linked to the ongoing establishment of the monumental artwork by the Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf on the museum's grounds. The purpose of the Grassroots Movement is to highlight the garden as a democratic art form and experimental space, as well as to promote awareness of its significance for biodiversity, dynamic social interaction, and well-being. The project will include, among other things, a plant and cultivation-based art camp for children and youth, cultivation workshops for the museum's design school, open guided garden tours, the development of volunteer activities, knowledge dissemination through social media and publications, as well as participation in the initiation of a pilot project for collective satellite gardening at municipal apartment buildings in Värnamo.
Piet Oudolf (b. 1944) is a Dutch garden designer who has created gardens at the Serpentine Gallery, London (in collaboration with Peter Zumthor); The High Line Park, New York City; Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein; and Hauser and Wirth, Somerset. More than 10 books have been published about his artistry, including Planting the Natural Garden (2003/2019, Timber Press), Landscapes in Landscapes (2011, Monacelli Press), Hummelo: A Journey Through a Plantsman's Life (2015/2021, Monacelli Press), Wild: The Naturalistic Garden (2022, Phaidon Press), and Piet Oudolf at Work (2023, Phaidon Press). The documentary film Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf, directed by Thomas Piper, premiered worldwide in 2017 and has received awards at international film festivals. Piet Oudolf has participated in exhibitions at, among others, MoMA, New York (2005); Hauser & Wirth, Somerset (2014); and Vitra Design Museum, Germany (2023).
