Figures and Hives / Belfast

In February 2008 the artist group finger will present the development of their ongoing project „citybeekeeping / finger“ at the Interface - Research Center in Belfast. In a lecture and open discussion finger will describe the context in which the project was developed and will introduce the audience to the different levels the project reached so far and to the future plans for the project in 2008 in Frankfurt/Main and Belfast. During the stay in Belfast finger will start local researches and preparation work for the project ‘figures and hives’ in 2009.

Researches and preparation work (February 2008) The project "figures and hives" will be about the implementation, cultivation and promotion of a migrational-beeyard in the center of belfast under the participation of artists, students, beekeepers, residents, other interested persons and institutions for the period of one year.

As an offbeat for the project finger will install 3 "beetraps" (empty beehives) at 3 exemplary places in the public sphere to give swarming bees (of other beekeepers) an opportunity to nest and at the same time to get a basis of bee colonys for the project in the following year. A minimum of 3 further bee colonys (and the beehives) should be donated to the project by beekeeping organisations or should be organized in cooperation with The Northern Irland Fire and Rescue Service by catching swarms of bees. "Figures and Hives" should be provided with at least 6 bee colonies for the start of the project in 2009. (In the period between spring 2008 and spring 2009 a local beekeeper or a local beekeeping organisation should place the beehives somewhere in the peripherie of belfast and should take care for the bee colonies.)

phase 1 The beginning of the workshop will be a brief introduction into the basics of beekeeping followed by a detailed description on the economical potentials for a self-determined cultural practice by citybeekeeping. Besides the economical and practical aspects of beekeeping the workshop will focus on the old folk art tradition of "figure-hives" (Figurenbeuten) coming from Central Europe where bee colonys were often located in wooden figurative sculptures. The further task for the participants of the workshop will be to give shape to an individual figure-hive or to devellop a group-balanced concept for a contemporary beeyard. The result should be a set of figure-beehives (or a sculptural beeyard) which is as much conform to beekeepers requirements as to its functions as a sculture of fine or applied arts in public sphere. The same attention as to the figure-hives itselfs should be given to the places where the figure-hives will be located. These places should be choosen as places which reflect and point out the conditions of (self-initiated cultural) work today. As well, right from the beginning of the project, the participants will plan distribution chains and advertisement strategies for their honey which can be harvested in May/June 2009. The pay for the honey can be kept by the participants. (An average amount of honey for one bee colony is approximately 50 kg per year and usually citybeekeeping / finger is selling 500g for 5,00 €)

phase 2 In the beginning of the second workshop the honey of spring 2009 will be harvested by the participants and the honey will be prepared for sale. After that the participants will bring their figure-hives to the locations where they will be finally presented (For example: a location for a figure-hive could be on the line of demarcation deviding catholic from protestant quarters in Belfast. Naturally honeybees don’t care about borders of that type and collect their nectar from all the balconies, gardens, parks and avenues in the surrounding. Honey collected in such a way could be provided for example in the churches of both denominations and could influence the taste of the consumers on both sides in a very healthy, sweet and indifferent way.) For offering an easy accessibility for the project in the following months, the participants should develop and offer guided tours to their figure-hives / sculpture-beeyard, describing the various aspects of their production. The preliminary end of the project will be the presentation of the sculpture-beeyard / the figure-hives to the public on the last day of the workshop. Wherever the figure-hives will be placed, it should be possible to leave the bees there until the end of the bee-year in september 2009. After the project the participants can keep their bees and should have found a place where they can stay during the winter. Otherwise the local beekeepers association can get the bee colonys for their own use.

Requirements for the project:

– All the participants have to be free from anaphylactic reactions on bee venom.
– The participants should be willing and able to work on the project with the intensity of continuous hobby.
– For the project it is essential to find a local beekeepers association or an individual beekeeper who is willing to accompagny the project and who is able to support the participants on site.
– To create public awareness for the project it would be very good to find a popular institutional basis for the project. In this case the institution itself could be used for installing figure-hives or a beeyard and / or the institution could take part in the project by providing space for the documentation of the project and for the sale of honey.

The goals of the project are:

– To provide an insight in one of the oldest cultural techniques - beekeeping
– The development of a site-specific delicacy
– To empower the participants to establish an own expendable micro-economy by beekeeping
– The training of contemporary collaborative modes of operation
– An direct contribution to environmental protection
– To formulate a largely financially independant position in the production of culture
– To reflect on the similarities, differencies and overlaps between self-initiated and overdirected modes of operation in comparison to the relations between fine and applied arts.
– To attract attention for the situation of beekeeping in Ireland
– To attract attention for the financial situation of artists and art institutions in Ireland.

In general the project „citybeekeeping / finger understands itself as an offer to individuals, groups and institutions who are interested in citybeekeeping and its related economical, cultural and shape giving aspects. In doing so it is possible to work on the project with a group of participants, but not necessary. Conceivable for finger as well is the realisation of the project solely with one cooperating institution in Belfast. In this case finger is offereing a documentating exhibition on „citybeekeeping / finger“, or after a detailed research-period, the installation of a sculptural beeyard in cooperation with the institution.