I like being a farmer and want to stay one - a portrait of European agriculture

The changes in agricultural life vary widely in Europe. For example, while 26% of the farms in Lower Saxony went bankrupt between 1990 and 2000, urban residents in countries like Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania returned to their parents' farms in order to start new lives as self-providers. This exhibition titled "I like being a farmer and want to stay one" intended to paint a picture of European agriculture today. For this project, the artists Antje Schiffers and Thomas Sprenger tour farms of several countries (Holland, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Romania and Moldavia) as portrait painters. They asked the farmers to make a video of their lives, and in exchange, the artists presented them an oil painting of their farm. This barter will result in a variety of cultural ties which the travelling artists hoped to generate in each village with theatre performances, movie events, mobile exhibitions, etc. The project concluded with a publication and major exhibition overview at the Städtische Galerie Nordhorn in 2009. The district of Bentheim and its main town of Nordhorn are among the most important agricultural regions in all of Germany.

Participating artists: Antje Schiffers and Thomas Sprenger

Venues and schedule:
Städtische Galerie Nordhorn: 5 Dec. 2009 - 7 Feb. 2010