Author Archives: melliferopolis

Open Call for the Pollen Workshop – sign up now!

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Call for Participation
Workshop – Understanding the Essence of Flowers – Exploring Pollen
June 12th to 14th 2013, from 09:00 to 17:00
(more detailed program will be published later)
Harakka Island, Helsinki, Finland

There is an intrinsic link between bees and flowers. In evolution they arose at the same time, bees feeding on nectar and pollen; the flowers relying on the pollinators for reproduction. Bees visiting flowers and harvesting their essence is a choreography that nature performs each year. In these encounters, the flowers disclose their secret to the bees, who take it home in the form of scent and taste.

In this three-day workshop, we explore the environment of the Melliferopolis bees living on Harakka Island.  First, we concentrate on the scientific aspects of the bees’ surrounding in the chemistry laboratory built on the island in 1929 for military purposes.

In a second part, we focus on the poetic aspects of plants and pollinators, their relation and communication with each other. Inspired by these dynamics, we engage with the visual aspects of pollen, inviting drawing, painting and collage to reveal stories and metaphores behind this natural phenomenon of pollination.

To participate in the workshop no preliminary knowledge is necessary. Please write a short statement of motivation/intention (200 words) before the 20th of May and send it to: ulla.taipale@aalto.fi

A maximum of 15 workshop participants will be accepted, 10 places are reserved for students of Aalto University and 5 for other interested people.

The workshop is part of Aalto Biofilia –Base for Biological Arts program  and takes place in collaboration with Harakka Luontotalo of Helsinki Environmental Centre.  It is guided by Christina Stadlbauer (beekeeper, artist, chemist), Asta Ekman (chemist, responsable of the Harakka environmental laboratory) and Lina Kusaite (illustrator, artist).

The workshop is part of Melliferopolis –Honeybees in Urban Environements, a research project by Christina Stadlbauer at Aalto Biofilia, initiated in 2011.

Melliferopolis is supported by Biofilia at Aalto University, Kone Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Helsinki Environmental Centre and Luontotalo Harakka and Helsinki City Cultural Centre. Other collaborators can be found in the http://www.melliferopolis.net/collaborations

More info at:

http://melliferopolis.net

http://www.biofilia.aalto.fi

Pollen Workshop, June 12-14 2013

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Understanding the Essence of Flowers - Workshop on Harakka island, June 12 -14, 2013

In these 3 days we explore the environment of Harakka island, where a colony of Melliferopolis bees lives. In the workshop we will do field work, lab-work and some drawing and storytelling. More on the workshop here.

Honey Harvest in Harakka

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Last Thursday, 2nd of August, we harvested the delicious sweetness of the bees in Harakka island. The harvest was accompanied by the song The Bee (Mehilainen) from the Kalevala, who was conducted by Veli-Heikki Uusitupa, an expert in Finnish mythology, together with the visitors. The bees reacted very well to the tunes and the work went smoothly!

See some pictures from the harvest -

by Ulla Taipale

by Ulla Taipale

by Ulla Taipale

by Ulla Taipale

by Ulla Taipale

by Ulla Taipale

by Ulla Taipale

Honeybees in Urban Environments

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Melliferopolis is a trans-disciplinary initiative at the intersection of art and    bio-sciences. The project is centered around honeybees, their role in urban eco-systems, the implications of keeping bees in the city and the function and properties of honey and bees as bio-monitors. Transmission and translation of these topics is done through artistic expressions. 

Honeybee Products – Science

A pot of honey provides versatile information on the habitat, quality and quantity of available food, and the impact of pollutants in a defined perimeter of the hive. City honey is said to be less polluted by pesticides than its rural counterpart. This claim and other aspects will be investigated with science partners, putting the emphasis on examination and analysis of characteristics and differencies in urban and rural situations.

Visibility and Accessibility – Art

Melliferopolis aims to translate both the process and the outcome of the scientific investigation into creative expressions. Artists are asked for their interpretations, communities are invited to actively participate in hands-on workshops. Installing the project in various places offers visibility and a chance of involvement for several neighborhoods. Lectures, workshops, exhibitions and other interventions offer a platform for debate and critical discussion and contribute to social awareness and knowledge about bees. An experimentally designed multi-functional hive will be hosted at Kaisaniemi Botanical garden to trigger cultural debate.

Urban Environments – Culture

Urban apiculture gains popularity all over Europe due to cities being a beneficial habitat for bees. Melliferopolis raises issues related with cities as complex ecosystems, the composition of  chemical substances that surround us, food and nutrition from urban agriculture, as well as fears and attitudes towards “the natural other” in the city. Installing urban beehives to revitalize and green city spaces adds to the recreational value of urban environments. Nevertheless, bees in the city might provoke strong reactions or discomfort towards the unknown in their vicinity. Melliferopolis investigates the tension between curiosity or the longing for nature towards the alienation from it.