The new products of the land
Master Symposium 2024
The new products of the land: contemporary art at the test of the rural
This year's symposium was conceived by Benoît Antille, assistant professor and researcher at the EDHEA.
Within the framework of the master symposium, we will explore different ways in which the rural territory has influenced artistic practices over the past decades –through its modes of production, resources, skills, and cultural specificities – with the aim of questioning whether the rural is not only a territory but also a critical concept that implies specific ways of thinking and acting. The five workshops will take place in meaningful rural locations around Sierre, including the Villa Ruffieux artist-in-residency program, the international solidarity movement Emmaüs Valais, the "stamm" of Satellite’s association, and a local brass band. All workshops will include a shared lunch as a moment for sharing, exchange and discussion.
The rural territory has long been overshadowed by the artistic field, which used to be more attracted by cities or singular sites, such as the desert of the American west, associated with the rise of Land Art in the 1960s. As demonstrated by Marfa, in Texas, where artist Donald Judd retreated in 1992, since a few decades, however, the rural territory has moved to center stage in the art world’s attention. This shift is partly due to factors that are internal to the artistic field. As art historian Brita Polzer already highlighted in 2013, in Kunst und Dorf: Künstlerische Aktivitäten in der Provinz [Art and Village: Artistic Activity in the Province], the rural territory has become a place of choice for the development of artistic practices—a place which is critical for current urgencies such as the climate crisis, food production, etc.
But this shift also stems from external factors. The rural, indeed, has moved to the center stage of cultural policies that seek to boost the attractiveness and competitiveness of this territory through the means of contemporary art. Therefore, an increasing number of art institutions, festivals, artists-in-residency programs and funding schemes are being initiated or launched in the countryside, so favoring the emergence of a new market for the artistic field, which relies on a large part of site-specific projects.
Since 2013, EDHEA has been addressing this phenomenon through a series of research projects that informed the 2025 Master Symposium, which focuses on participatory, socially engaged and community-based practices. In this spirit, EDHEA is collaborating with local associations, communities and constituencies in Sierre, who agreed to host the five workshops. This is also why the lunch break will be integral to the workshops, as a communal meal during which further exchanges can be made between students and guests.
Guests: Benoît Antille, Déborah Bron , Ioana Lupascu , Eric Philippoz , Camille Sevez, Adam Sutherland , Natsuko Uchino