Alpbach follow-up

Last week Vivienne and Andreas were invited to the European Forum Alpbach . The event was founded in 1945 by Otto Molden, a prominent member of the Austrian resistance movement. It brings together committed people and offers talks and discussions. It has grown over the years and is today an important cultural event. Vivienne was invited as a political activist – Andreas was born only 10 miles away from where the event took place.

In the afternoon a creative workshop with children who come to the Forum Alpbach with their parents and the local children took place.

Workshop Project : Soldiers invade the rainforest to cut down trees and steal all the resources. At the end of the war some of the soldiers, who hated the fighting and realized the unjustness of it all, did not want to go back to their own country anymore and stayed in the forest + made friends with the people who lived there and who used to be their enemies. They learnt many secrets and began to love the life in the forest – they started painting their military uniforms and their faces with lots of colours and became freedom fighters.

Workshop Inspiration: 1) Look at photos of the printings of Henry Rousseau. No artist has ever captured the abundance of nature like he did. 2) Look at a picture of Che Guevara. You can see his soul and who he really is. Draw portraits of each other – as if you were freedom fighters.

Vivienne spoke with the children how important it is to save the rainforests and told them that although wars are fought to impose the dominant ideology on people the real reason is to get their treasures + slaves (cheap labour).

After the workshop we went to the next door “Eat it don’t waste it” restaurant. Tobias, the founder, serves vegetarian food made of veggies that do not meet retail standards. He thinks these standards are mindless. Every morning he collects fruits and vegetables from nearby farmers that would otherwise waste . His gives work to refugees. The chairs and tables of the restaurant are made of cardboard decorated with Vivienne Westwood Squiggle Wallpaper.

Andreas and Teddy in the Eat It Not Waste It

Tobias’s friends Georg and Christoph use the place as well and prepares insects as a sustainable and healthy food source. Andreas ate some. He said they did not taste bad at all. In Europe we do not eat insects. Around the world at least 2 billion people eat them and Lois says eating them is good for the environment.

In the evening Vivienne and Andreas went to a panel discussion about InEquality. Vivienne focused on the importance of nature and its conversation and migration. She said that politicians and the mass media treat the refugee catastrophe as a crisis – a crisis that would pass. The fact is that our financial and political system creates perpetual war, ongoing climate destruction and ever increasing poverty. Vivienne urged everyone present to inform themselves and get politically active, otherwise we are in great danger to be all migrants soon.

Fun on the last day : Martin, Andreas’ brother who is a dairy farmer 2100 m up in the mountains, told Teddy to get five cows down from the mountain into the stable. Teddy was chasing around for one hour without much success. Cows move much faster than humans on a mountain. One has to go behind the “lead cow” and cut her corners so that she cannot turn around and go back up. The cows sensed that Teddy did not really know what to do. Martin looked at the spectacle and had a laugh. He finally went up and within 15 minutes all the cows were in the stable. One very interesting fact about mountain cows: they can jump in the air, turn around by 180 Degrees and land in the opposite direction. True!