Moirika Reker, Fruta à Mão, 2014
Upon learning that most of the fruit trees adorning Portugal's city streets are ornamental (colorful though bitter), Moirika Reker immediately recognized that spaces now hosting ornamental trees could one day grow edible fruits trees instead. She thus sought a European Cultural Foundation grant to develop Fruta à Mão (Urban Orchards-Pick Your (City) Fruit)(since 2014), her participatory artwork initially aimed at transforming part of Quinta dos Lilases, a Lisboa city park, into a 25;000m2 edible orchard with more applications to come. Despite pretending to be working on implementing Reker's proposal, the city's landscape architect designed a 3000m2 orchard instead.
Copyright 2017 Sue Spaid