On each of the five days of the gathering, gifts were brought to the shrine by local residents, growers, brewers, bakers, researchers and participants attending the forum.
Day 1: Rock; soil samples from the north, south, east and west of Ytterjarna Campus; forest leaves, moss, bark, leaf litter and humus; water; florals.
Day 2: Local honey and garlic; cow horns from Nibble Farm; clover plant; edible flowers and vegetables from 2000m2; sprouted barley.
Day 3: Rye grain; stoneground flour; sourdough leaven; artisan loaves from local bakers.
Day 4: Fermented cabbages; mixed berries and honey mead; rose syrup; olive oil from Crete and Greece.
Day 5: Nine different biodynamic composts; cowpat; seed mandala with egg.
On the final day, we added a vessel of all the food waste which had been kept by the chefs cooking for participants and was ready for recycling back into compost as food for soil communities.
The Living Shrine was a participatory, durational and evolving artwork that brought alive the connections with soil, inspired conversations and helped generate ideas and actions. Participants gathered around it for both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Forum. It was also the focus for the Art, Soil and Culture knowledge exchange we co-hosted with Daro Montag, which investigated the power and meaning of the arts process as a medium of transformation and ecological consciousness.
