Artwork (concept)

Objects of care: Handling carefully

A proposal for HANDLE WITH CARE 6th biennale svizzera del territorio

Objects of Care: Handling Carefully is an installation and guided audio walk through the grounds of Villa Saroli that explores handling, invisible labour, and intergenerational repair, drawing on personal archives of care built around eight family objects that connect acts of preserving and mending in the home across Europe and South Asia.

The drawing presents a simplified plan of the grounds of Villa Saroli, showing the preliminary route of the guided audio walk from the periphery of the park toward its centre, developing in a labyrinthian manner. This maze-like memory walk is marked as a continuous sequence of stops, each corresponding to an audio segment and the encounter with an archival sculpture. All objects will be positioned at ground level or on minimal supports, allowing them to be encountered closely without altering the site. The final point of the route is located at the centre of the park and is marked by a shared table where food prepared by the artists from family recipes is offered. Headphones are returned at this point, and visitors are invited to eat and linger before leaving the site.

Visitors will be equipped with headphones and guided through a labyrinthine route in the park. The audio weaves together storytelling, music, and oral history. At each stop, listening culminates in the encounter with an object drawn from the personal archives of the artists, including ordinary family heirlooms, intermixed with artworks.

Together, these ‘archival sculptures’ are used to situate the exploration of mending, repairing, and preserving using the hands. Acts practised by our ancestors, often shaped by constraint, migration, and necessity, that we are slowly forgetting. The walk concludes at a table, where food prepared using family recipes is offered. Visitors are invited to handle food to serve a stranger and share in reflection.

Credits:

Collaborative competition entry by: Vincent Straub, Deshna Shah