Allotment Multidisciplinary Storytelling Art Project | Part 2

Описание: 24 views Jan 25, 2026
“Allotment” was an exhibition I created for my MA final project in 2023. It was a multimedia art piece composed of natural materials, including dry flowers, plants from my urban garden, and super greens that grew during the exhibition. I also used video and journaling pages to share stories from my childhood in 1980s Poland, which was still under a communist regime.

Through a multimedia approach, "Allotment" replicated real-life allotments while embodying the broader ecological and sustainable multifunctionality of urban allotments and gardens.

The project, identified with ecological art and used materials already in circulation, cultivating my plea for sustainability within my creative practice. Incorporating my grandmother's intergenerational knowledge and practices has been imperative for developing the "Allotment" as a public art project.

T H E P R O J E C T

Growing up in 1980s Poland, food rations, maximising local food production and preserves were a daily reality. Seasons and my grandmother’s allotment dominated my early childhood. Until the breakdown of the Soviet bloc, self-sufficiency through growing and preserving food was the only lifestyle I knew.

After the long, cold winter, spring was devoted to clearing the allotment, making space for sowing and the blossoming of new plants. When the summer finally arrived, we spent the mornings picking the fruits of the spring labour and the afternoons preserving the precious harvest for the long winter months.

When I watched my grandmother cook or tend to her allotment, love, joy, and determination were present in her every move. I was transfixed while unknowingly learning from her. My grandmother’s allotment and her kitchen were my safe, healing spaces, protecting my childhood innocence from the insecurities and hardships of life under communist rule. Once I moved to London, I disconnected from nature. Many years passed before my interest in sustainable and self-sufficient living led me to set up a balcony garden.

THE ALLOTMENT - SHORT STORY

Together with my grandparents, I either walked or took the bus to my granny’s magical allotment. Despite having a timetable, the buses were never on time. Luckily, it wasn’t hard for me to find something interesting to do while we waited.

But it felt like forever if we had to walk, even if we took the shortcut, which led between neighbourhoods of mostly identical grey square houses. Now and then, granny would tell me stories that I loved, despite how frightening they might have been for a small child.

I guess that was her way of warning me against doing stupid things. To some degree, she succeeded, though, of course, it didn’t stop me from rebelling when I was a teenager. On the way to the allotment, we always passed by the local communist party building. Each time, granny forbade me from even looking at it. She believed it was too dangerous to even glance at the building's exterior without facing severe consequences. Now and then, with a pounding heart, I peeked at the mysterious structure, awaiting the repercussions of my actions, which never materialised. A child’s reality is so different to what adults have to face.

Check out my website for more projects, check out
magdaolchawska.com

Get a copy of my ANOTHER WAY – SELF-PACED CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
https://magdaolchawska.com/another-wa...