To make a public park out of a Berlin wasteland: Anita-Berber-Park
photographs and sound. Mathilda Rosengren, 2017.
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Anita-Berber-Park in Berlin has been a public park since 2017 but, over the past century, it has taken on many functions: as a cemetery called St Thomas Friedhof, as part of the landing path to Tempelhofer Airport during the Cold War, and most recently as a fenced-off wasteland. During the wasteland period, 1980s-2010s, various informal commoning activities took place in the space. Today, some of these informal practices remain. The photos are all from April 2017 and reflect a period when the two commons existed side by side: the informal one of the wasteland and the official one of the soon-to-be public park. The sound field recording is from the same time period.
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Enskiftet
Videoanimation, loop, 4:42 min. Studio Kupol, 2024.
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1733 Geometrisk avmätning, Nevishögs socken
1807 Enskifte, Nevishögs socken
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The landscape in front of you on the screen is in a state of constant flux. Enskiftet was an early 19th century land reform that ushered in a radical shift in Swedish society, with agriculture as its starting point. The reform led to a consolidation of every farmer's land to one, unified holding instead of scattered plots across many different fields. This reorganisation of farmland resulted in a complete restructuring of the character of the landscape. Farmsteads were moved and village communities forcibly dispersed. Historically, Sweden has seen three large land reforms: Storskiftet, Enskiftet and Laga skifte. Enskiftet can be considered as a continuation of the previous reform, Storskiftet.
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To make a public park out of a Berlin wasteland: Anita-Berber-Park
photographs and sound. Mathilda Rosengren, 2017.
.
Anita-Berber-Park in Berlin has been a public park since 2017 but, over the past century, it has taken on many functions: as a cemetery called St Thomas Friedhof, as part of the landing path to Tempelhofer Airport during the Cold War, and most recently as a fenced-off wasteland. During the wasteland period, 1980s-2010s, various informal commoning activities took place in the space. Today, some of these informal practices remain. The photos are all from April 2017 and reflect a period when the two commons existed side by side: the informal one of the wasteland and the official one of the soon-to-be public park. The sound field recording is from the same time period.
.
.
Enskiftet
Videoanimation, loop, 4:42 min. Studio Kupol, 2024.
.
1733 Geometrisk avmätning, Nevishögs socken
1807 Enskifte, Nevishögs socken
.
The landscape in front of you on the screen is in a state of constant flux. Enskiftet was an early 19th century land reform that ushered in a radical shift in Swedish society, with agriculture as its starting point. The reform led to a consolidation of every farmer's land to one, unified holding instead of scattered plots across many different fields. This reorganisation of farmland resulted in a complete restructuring of the character of the landscape. Farmsteads were moved and village communities forcibly dispersed. Historically, Sweden has seen three large land reforms: Storskiftet, Enskiftet and Laga skifte. Enskiftet can be considered as a continuation of the previous reform, Storskiftet.
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