Museum’s Pastoral – Encuentro de la Federación de Pastores

Fernando García-Dory

11 November 2009

Shepherd’s meeting.

Shepherd’s meeting. Installation with video documentation and commissioned visual works by Eduardo Díaz Hevia and Manu Griñón. Production: LABoral. Acknowledgements: FEP shepherds; Andra Piskaer; Rikrit Tiravanija/Fundación ARQ ART-Galería Salvador Díaz; Abitita

García-Dory organized a meeting of the National Federation of Shepherds (an organization he initiated in 2008) during Feedforward and created an installation accompanying and documenting the event. At a time when small farms in Europe are disappearing at a rapid pace, shepherds more than ever represent food sovereignty and sustainability. Yet the inherent solitude of their profession makes it difficult for them to have agency as a collective. Museum’s Pastoral strives to create a social system design that allows a marginalized community to share views, analyze problems, and occupy an institutional space. The art space provides a framework for the social system, for exploring the genre of the pastoral and the projection of ideals on the figure of the shepherd.