Trans-local Haystacks
HAYSTACKS //|\\ HEUHAUFEN //|\\ SWYLJE
Kathrin and Wapke from Myvillages were involved in organising and making numerous haystacks in the summer of 2024: in London, in Stuttgart and in the Netherlands (Utrecht, Rotterdam and Warmond).
HAYSTACKS //|\\ HEUHAUFEN //|\\ SWYLJE is a trans-local working place for co-production and co-reflection on rural practices, lived experience and embodied knowledge in urban settings.
Kathrin started Haystacks as a series of casual get togethers to talk about rural topics in urban places in London. The first hay making haystack event followed on the Walthamstow Marshes in east London in May 2013, and has since become an annual communal public event on the former Lammas land.
The “Heuhaufen” at Künstlerhaus Stuttgart in June 2024 was on invitation by Stephen Wright and Tamarind Rosetti, who have taken on the artistic directorship there. „Farming Everything” is the motto and practice that shapes their curatorial work, and hay was made snd brought to the main gallery as material, artistic practice, sculpture, furniture, more-than-human environment and a reason to discuss relationships between shifts in contemporary art and in agriculture.
Wapke started organising "Swylje" in April 2024 in Utrecht. “Swylje” is Frisian for gathering the hay. In our school they are informal dinners and conversations with art and agriculture workers and researchers to dig deeper into rural undercurrents, distinct and shared knowledge on and in Dutch polders.
Haystacks/Heuhaufen/Swylje will continue over the coming years as a trans-local programme of the and please be in touch if you want to connect with haymaking and haythinking🌱
Thanks to Ida Fabrizio, Rasheeqa Ahmad from Hedge Herbs and ranger Luke Boyle for making the London haystack possible and for the amazing music on the marshes.
Herzliches Dankschön in Stuttgart an Stephen Wright & Tamarind Rosetti , Ida Bomm, Jochen Detscher’s support in the print studio, and Manuela Obermeier, Bernhad Lehr, Daniel Richter and Stephanie Bollinger Casale or the hay.
Swylje is a co-operation with Meta Knol from Warmond and Casco Art Institute in Utrecht. And it all started last April in the HQ in Rotterdam.
| Common fruit, vegetables, animals | Haystack |
|---|---|
| Tradition | Making hay |
| Scent | Dried plants |
Scything was part of Kathrin's teaching at the department of Business Management at Alanus Hochshule in Alfter. The movement of scything, and hay and stacking the hay also became part of a student project and presentation during Unfreeze Your Brain - connecting land, art and economy.
The scything and stacking connected a number of themes and practices on campus:
🌱#Biodiversity meadows on our campus in Alfter, set up by and explained by the brilliant during #UnfreezeYourBrain
🦗 exploring the campus and movements it holds with and for the #GrossesKunstabschlussprojekt
🚜 connecting with and the amazing #convivialtechnology range
🔎 #DigWhereYouStand as an approach to localised economics learning and imagining.
In 2025 we met again on the Walthamstow Marshes to be close to the land, honour Lammas and common land, learn how to scythe, find and meet medicinal plants, make hay and a haystack, and generally celebrate late June on this public land which holds many layers and histories beyond the current public park use.
The Lammas Land Community Haystack in east London where Kathrin is at home is an annual low-key event on the Walthamstow Marshes co-organised with master scyther and nature connecting hero Ida Fabrizio.
The land was a commons and used for feeding and grazing the cattle of local commoners. The gap between histories of land ownership and usership, and current reading and use of the land are enormous: it's mainly used for running and walking your dog.
The one day Community Haystack offers a digging deeper and looking closer at the land we call public. Thanks to and the park rangers for sharing your plant and land knowledge!
| Common fruit, vegetables, animals | Haystack |
|---|---|
| Tradition | Making hay |
| Scent | Dried plants |