This project could be called April: patiently waiting under snow, developing roots beneath a hardened crust before finally breaking through. It could also be entitled And Yet: even the artificial flower in the cemetery eventually changes its colour (though the industrial chemists are surely trying to find a cheap solution to this problem as soon as possible), and yet there remains the murmur of a cypress in the wind, ivy basking on the wall, and a daisy peeping through a crack in the marble.
The name is Provolution Action. Very simple: it’s all about guided walks (approx 2 hours) through different locales in Ljubljana: the old town, the Tivoli, Metelkova Street, and in the vicinity of Cankarjev Dom and the Parliament, at which we draw attention to various edible, healing and otherwise useful herbs, bushes and trees which flourish in the city’s plots and parks, and better yet on construction sites or through cracks in the pavement – indeed wherever they are left in peace. Most people think of these plants as just weeds that should be ignored, if not removed in their entirety. Slovenia’s capital is far too polluted to allow us to harvest them or experience their flavours and effects; thus the objective of this project is to revive an awareness of their existence, to re-establish intimate contact with them, and to recall the forgotten – or taken-for-granted – fact that wild plants are a foundation of human existence.
Bend down low; let me tell you what I know...
The nutritional and healing powers make wild plants a genuine boon - not merely as regards their value in the kitchen or as a medicine, but also politically. In order not to entirely succumb to the powers of the multinational drug companies and food retailers, one could bend down, consider, and avail oneself of the merits of an apparently insignificant and gratis herb. Added to which is the joy of discovery, recognition, harvesting and preparation...
˝We have learnt to pay attention to everything that surrounds us.˝ (Pawnee Indian)
