I sent strawberry plants from Geneva to Casablanca; customs placed the parcel in quarantine for four weeks and the plants died.
“Voyage, voyage” aims to formulate responses to the art world’s romantic appropriation of the discourse surrounding exodus, freedom of movement, immigration, refugees, cosmopolitanism, and nomadism. This project deals with radicalism through the figure of the strawberry plant; a radicant bound to endless voyage.
The project grows across geopolitical zones. It began in Geneva (Switzerland), where I taught myself to grow strawberries in a community garden. I conducted a series of botanical and artistic experiments on the plants, testing claims that they would survive after their first roots had been severed. I then developed this research during a series of international residencies: at The Ultra Laboratory and Galerie Fatma Jellal in Casablanca (Morocco); and the Kamel Lazaar Foundation in Tunis (Tunisia). The project is ongoing.
It’s Grim Up North is the official soundtrack of Voyage, voyage. The track is available via Tunisia’s online platform for the Venice Biennale