Invited to present my work at the International Festival of Plants, Ecology and Colours in Madagascar – 15 to 21 May 2017. I stayed for three month in my own Artist in Residency with funding from Västra Götaland, Sweden.

Despite the cultural and natural riches, Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world. Over 70% of Malagasy people are farmers, and food security is a constant challenge, in the world capital of Vanilla.

I focused on researching fibres’ relationship to the people, and colour, the land, its rhythm and the value of the Basket in Madagascar.   lived remote and walked further out to remote areas. I walked for many days and weeks and met with the beautiful Malagasy people. There is very little infrastructure in Madagascar, so walking is normal. Food was very difficult to find outside a bigger town or in a tourist area. 

I was confronted with the extreme poverty that exists in Madagascar. It’s difficult to work, or even think of art, or with any fibres or colours when there is hardly anything for its population. I was also almost every day confronted with child prostitution and sex tourism with total impunity that exists in Madagascar.

I am very thankful for all the Malagasy people whom I met and everything they shared with me, their deep knowledge about nature, as well as their struggle to survive, and the young people who hope to save the environment, despite they were ending up in prison. I was also fortunate to meet all sorts of different researchers from different places in the world who also shared their knowledge about the diversity of plants and animals that exist in Madagascar, but also about their struggle to do research in Madagascar.

LINK SVENSKA artikel VG regionen