Artworks from the HUM exhibition – a collaborative project of ceramic beehive sculptures head out into nature and make themselves available to be homes for bees.
During our winter down time, we teamed up with Dunja Herzog experimenting with the idea of making beehives from clay. Now with spring around the corner, the sculptors are taking on their next phase- evolving artistic pieces into utilitarian form.
This was always the plan from the onset of the project. We felt similarly about creating works that encompassed a distinct narrative about the multidimensional character of bees in relation to mythology, folklore, spirituality, gender, fertility, nature and symbiosis, merged with an aesthetic quality and practical possibilities of them being actual homes for bees. This culminated in an exhibition at Victoria Yards on the 26th-29th of June.
The execution of this next phase i.e. putting the hives out in the great outdoors was determined by the change in season, as we move towards spring time in the Southern Hemisphere. As nature comes to life with rising temperatures and new blossoms appearing, so do bees increase their levels of activity in search for nectar, pollen and in some cases, new homes. Between August and mid-November, beekeepers generally look to increase their beehive units by luring trekking swarms into their hives.
We decided to put our plan in action firstly by securing a safe site, then building stands for the hive pots out of scrap metal pieces, baiting the pots and then finally placing them in the desired location.
What happens next is now in the hands of nature. Crossing fingers for swarms to arrive in the weeks to come.
