Social Qualities of a Potato: A Relational Tool

Veenhuizen – a former domestic colony, penal colony, prison village, currently a village and a prison under UNESCO World Heritage title.
In a place distant in terms of location, culture and time, a potato is used as a relation point to engage with the community. What could be more essential to the mental and physical well-being than food? Through centuries, the potato bread gave sustenance to the workers and prisoners from Colonies of Benevolence. Today, this starchy vegetable is the topic of every interaction within Eglė’s research. By investigating the culinary, social and historical aspects she embeded herself within Veenhuizen.
Dialogues on history, love and political beliefs unfolded while working-along farmers, chefs and museum guides. The experiences and observations were captured through film, personal impressions and notes. Eglė listens without forcing a script, personalities emerge. A potato becomes a window into the domestic and emotional texture of Veenhuizen. The profiles of people are at the core of her proposition for a subjective atlas.

Photos by Alexander Gustavs Formgren.