Kultivator is an experimental cooperation of organic farming and visual art practice, situated in rural village Dyestad, on the island Öland on the southeast coast of Sweden. By installing certain functions in abandoned farm facilities, near to the active agriculture community, Kultivator provide a meeting and working space that points out the parallels between provision production and art practice, between concrete and abstract processes for survival.

In connection to the “Wedding Between Art & Agriculture” at Kultivator in 2010 we planted Azolla in the newly dug out pond at Kultivator. The Azolla grew very well in the pond and we harvested many wheel barrows of Azolla. Some of it we offered to animals on the farm to see if they had any interest in it as fodder.

[Azolla as fodder for horses at Kultivator. Photo: Erik Sjödin.]

The horses were initially sceptical but eventually tasted the Azolla and appeared to appreciate it somewhat.

The pigs on the other hands did not seem to take interested in the Azolla on it’s own, but they didn’t seemed bothered by it when it was mixed into their regular fodder.