"Bostan el Hara" is part of Kulturfolger's 2023 Programme "Convivio." The project aims to transform the gallery space into a vibrant indoor garden in October 2023, inviting the community and neighborhood to engage with it and the surrounding plants. This installation will establish a communal space where gardening, dining, and collaboration intersect. Garden draws inspiration from two Arabic terms. "Bostan" (بستان), meaning orchard or garden, reflects the abundant and beautifully cultivated landscapes often found in the SWANA region. It alludes to pre-colonial gardening practices rooted in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. We complement this term with "El Hara" (الحارة), which translates to an alley or tightly knit neighborhood, to situate our project within the locality of Kulturfolger.

Cocinas Alterinas is a critical design collective co-founded in 2019 by the Swiss-Egyptian designer Mayar El Barkry and the Peruvian landscape architect and artist Gabriela Aquije Zegarra—their work centers around the investigation of food in relation to space, ecologies, and politics.Rooted in their diverse cultural backgrounds and extensive artistic expertise, the Cocinas Alterinas collaborates to create various dynamic formats, including workshops, short films, and performative dinners that explore the complex systems of specific crops and cooking processes. Through this work, they seek to reflect and mediate plural visions of design, using locally sourced ingredients and communal cooking and eating practices to foster a deeper connection between people, their environment, and their food.
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