Recently, I learned that the octopus is more intelligent than we suspect. It can open screw-top jars, an astonishing skill if you haven't been shown how and if jars
aren't part of your daily life. In Gelsenkirchen (of Taylor Swift fame) am 24. August 2024, the day of the arts festival, no octopus was seen and the exhibits, the donated jars, 23 in all, kept
their lids.
The jars, brought in the course of the festival, were mostly from the location's neighbourhood, Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf. (Link exists only in in German!) but contributions also came from neighbouring towns – Bochum, Bottrop and Essen, as well as other parts of Gelsenkirchen.
The collection showed items found on the streets, family heirlooms, personal mementos and oddments salvaged from homes or work places. The jars, too, yielded information about their original content and even brand-names: honey jars, recognisable by their wide cylindrical shape and goldish-yellow plastic lids, smaller jars for paste, hexagonal jam-jars, a tiny preserving bottle, round mustard jars, others of various shapes for all types of spicy delicacies.
By way of introduction the first five jars are shown here. In
November all jars will be put on display once more, together with complementary exhibits. Stay tuned!
No.1.
Hornet, dead
Found in: UmBauLabor, Bergmannstrasse 23, Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf
There is life in the walls in the UmBauLabor. Listen and look carefully and discover the stories hidden here. This hornet, too, once lived here. Or was it just visiting?
No. 3. From the workshop floor
Location: Werk & Raum, Bochumer Straße 110, Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf
The remains of a bench made for the community garden.
No.
5. A special key
Location: Im Busche 58, Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf
Each one of us carries various keys: for the house, the letter-box or the car. Some of us have keys to a safe or to rooms that no-one else has access to. I
found an old key. It belonged to Grandad's bakery. Only he was alloed to use this key to unlock the backery at night before the workers arrived.
It certainly was a special place. This was where food was made for a thanful the local population. With his horse-drawn cart, Grandad delivered loaves, rolls and various types of biscuits to the homes in the neighbourhood. It was agreed that August Büsing had the largest Amerikaner (an individual-size round sponge cake) with the best icing. The key no longer fits. The old door was also replaced. Now the bakery is my son Stefan`s hobby room and has a new key.
No.
2. Drinking water
Found in: UmBauLabor, Bergmannstrasse 23, Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf
A very important substance!
No. 4. Woven plastic band for packaging
Fundort: Goldbergplatz, Gelsenkirchen
Described in this short verse:
Plastikbänder, die die Welt bedeuten
Entsorgt von unachtsamen Leuten
Mikroplastik essen heut die Fische
Morgen schon auf deinem Tische
Ein Kreislauf, der in einem Glase endet
Was vielleicht noch ein wenig Hoffnung spendet.
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