Camille Chedda

Chedda’s Chain of Love: Rice and Peas Bush in Lower South Camp re-integrates local community members back into a place that had been widely abandoned while also utilising the foliage of the plant that has grown as a metaphor for the ubiquitous memory of those whom in previous times lived, worked and suffered there under colonial rule.

The cement block walls housing images and objects within their hollows tell stories and highlight notable people from the local community. The rice and peas bush grows freely as a symbol of value and possibility: unifying the people born from a traumatic history with a future that works in symbiosis with nature, and a future that brings an income for the local residents who care for it. Whether from selling honey, providing new skills, or a sense of teamwork and mutual support for one another and for the environment.

This Global Co-Commission, titled A Feral Commons, curated by Tairone Bastien, is an initiative by Alserkal Advisory in collaboration with GCDN (Global Cultural Districts Network) and supported by UAP. The commission spans three cultural districts across three continents: Alserkal Avenue, Dubai (UAE), Victoria Yards, Johannesburg (South Africa), and Kingston Creative, Kingston (Jamaica).

In developing an initiative focused on contextualising the global climate crisis and driving collective action, the Global Co-commission has used our proprietary tools to help measure the impact of public art. This includes providing a framework to audit the project’s CO2 emissions and tracking and reporting on the societal impact and afterlife of the three commissions in each of the participating districts.