Taking the commons as a source of action, Wapke Feenstra created a 1:1 economy by bringing local and international Village Goods into the mainstreet of Beetsterzwaag during the Triënnale. The products were a selection of local created Village Goods that represent their origins’ regions, natural resources, skills, labour and local myths. Among others, goods in Wapke’s basket were the ‘Wild Treasure’; a bean in a silver box, wrapped with a mole skin that has been made and co-created within the village of Beetsterzwaag. Another item found in the basket was a two-headed wolf candle; ‘Janus die Wolfkerze’, which represents the cultural heritage of the Nedersaksen district Lüneburg and their recent ambivalence to the return of the wolf in everyday life. Wapke’s roaming around the village’s streets caused chuckles at the streets of Beetsterzwaag, at the same time, her project is a performance in line of the history of the area`s workers movements; the poor peat cutters were also often poachers and peddlers.
More on Almende (a frisian word for the commons) and the
Triënnale van Beetsterzwaag in 2018
Website and programme Almende.