As part of a larger project called the Bag Beacons by artist and architect, lIze Wessels, this project extends from the analysis of not only the Bag Factory as a site but also its greater context of Fordsburg and its direct relations to the Oriental Plaza. The Plaza Plant Platform is anchored by the goal of fostering a sense of community with those who live and work around you. How do we build, teach and care for Bag Factory as a site and an institution if we do not engage and interact with the community that surrounds us?
This immersive workshop in collaboration with urban gardeners Exotically Divine Pulse, offers the community at large an opportunity to learn about the idea of communal care through the creation of the Plaza plant platform. A platform that will be used to create functional planting systems, introducing urban gardening strategies which culminate in the creation of a community garden.
Exotically Divine Pulse is a non-profit organisation which endeavours to build community through gardening and the use of found waste material in efforts to create a healthy lifestyle by ways of tracing one’s existence.
For this workshop, we ask all participants to bring the following items along with them:
A plant or plant-cutting
A container for the plant Found or waste object
A string or a stone or some soil
The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture has supported this programme.