Restoring relationships along terraced landscapes
a dry stone workshop
guided by antonisotzu & jean ni from Foghíles
Common imagination around drystone walls is often related to the concept of boundary division. However, humans have used the technique long before the invention of private property, relating to our surroundings by collecting and moving stones into lines and steps. Drystone artifacts are joints between stones, coming together in wise configurations that support erosion control, shelter, trail designation, pastoral management, lime production, humidity collection, and tree protection. Drystone artifacts are places to manifest individual and collective cultural practices, places that signify care, places that offer evidence of proximity and ongoing relationality.
Through this workshop we engage with Topolo’s steep hillsides which are shaped by a system of stone retaining walls that perpetually interact with ancient and novel forest dwellers. The environment has and continues to shape these spaces over time: some trees cling to mossy walls, strengthening the entire organism, while other roots burst through to topple heavy stone slabs. Soil and humidity gather in the pockets of cracks to host ferns and climbers that stretch across undulating surfaces.
What does it mean to restore and maintain relationships with terraced landscapes today? We explore the power of staying in a place: walking, noticing, developing seasonal rituals for maintaining a dialogue. The act of drystone walling is a technique that resists linear time: inherited from our ancestors, it remains a living embodiment of a ritual that exercises the use of perception and practice.
more about the workshop here!
{language: English & Italian}
If you would like to participate, write us here: robidamagazine@gmail.com
