Naomi Rossignol
(Fr)Mantél de Lana, An offering to the Lands is a gesture to restore a fair relationship between human and its lands -never take more than you need and give back in return- and remind people the importance of reciprocity in our society of logic and consumption.
“ Heron cautioned him to be careful not to take too many fish, but Nanabhozo was already thinking of a feast.” (Johnston, 1995) The Key – never take more than you need and give back in return. Most commonly, we live in a space that offers all the necessary conditions for life and its development. We exploit resources and shape it to satisfy our needs and materials desires. We gained a lot, especially in the field of design and architecture, but this profit has cost us dearly. By moving back to the Alps, due to the Covid-19 crisis, I got disillusioned to see how much nature became integrated into the economic and Western scientific system of logic and consumption. “Where did reciprocity go? How did we lose our relationship with the lands? I asked myself. To restore a fair relationship between humans and their lands, I decided to work only with natural material provided by my surroundings, such as raw wool and plants. From this, I am designing a series of woollen clothes to bring me physical and emotional support in this time of upheavals and uncertainty, applying, as design attitude, the following rules:
- Live in a way that minimizes harm, respect living beings around you.
- Only take what you need and leave some for others.
- Share everything, as the Earth has shared with you.
- Be grateful, always.
- Follow reciprocity, give back in return.
- Work according to natural cycles.
- Sustain the ones who sustain you, and the Earth will last forever.
These rules are inspired on Robin Wall Kimmerer ’s Honourable Harvest rules.
Finally, to bring back to the lands what was given to me, I am performing a modern interpretation of a ritual using the woollen clothes made as a device.