Encounters at Oberfeld Farm - Publications and Projects from Oberfeld

20.12.2016

  • Teenager carrying parts of the wooden sculpture, woven in a basket like manner
    Photo Gallery: Encounters Workshop Oberfeld
  • Teenager on a tractors trailer
  • Teenager arranging the lower parts of the sculpture
  • Basic elements of the wooden sculpture on a defined area
  • The next element of the sculpture is getting arranged on the meadow
  • View from bottom to top through the inner part of the airy wooden sculpture
  • Teenager building a fance
  • A crane puts up the upper part of the sculpture
  • Fance and basic parts of the sculpture
  • View on sculpture and fance
  • Goup photo of participants in front of the sculpture in the evening sun
  • Get-together at the fireplace in the evening
  • Evening sun shining through the basked structure of the sculpture

Oberfeld Farm (Hofgut Oberfeld) is enjoying a great deal of popularity. Whether for living and working, purchasing the farm's products, or relaxation: people from Darmstadt and the surrounding region are very fond of coming here. It's a lively place for an encounter - with agriculture as the common ground. 

A (citizen) initiative based in Oberfeld was the driving force behind the biodynamic farm located East of Darmstadt, which includes a farm store, cafe, bakery, and cheese mongers as well as a seasonal garden, a learning farm, and living facilities for 24 individuals with disabilities. Countless cultural events have taken place since 2006 in the historical buildings and stables of the estate or on the surrounding meadows and fields. Oberfeld Farm, which is managed by a foundation of the same name, has thus provided countless children, youths, and adults from the city a glimpse at natural agricultural relationships. 

But the farm, which has been supported and encouraged since its inception by the Software AG Foundation, is more than just a place to experience nature: it also offers opportunities for personal and sensory experiences - for example, in the context of an international “encounter workshop.”

In May 2016, on the occasion of the ten-year anniversary of young Darmstadt residents on the farm, children and young people from around the world constructed a sculpture in the middle of an open field, with the help of artist Roger Rigorth, pastor Gisela Thriemer, and farmer Thomas Goebel. The goal of the four-day youth camp was a conscious experience of the natural world of the farm and being together with different cultures. A large-scale installation that turns both the indoors and the outdoors into a tangible experience was the result of the project. The sculpture has been serving since its installation as a stopping place for walkers, as well as a “performance space” for musical events.

View the photo gallery for impressions from the “experience workshop.” Insights into the overall farm project at “Hofgut Oberfeld” and its 10-year history are available in a publication from the farm's foundation, which is now also available as an e-book.