The short film by Harvest Salon for the Oslo Triennale’s pre-program builds on historical shifts in Swiss dairy farming. From 1914 until its dissolution in 1999, the Käseunion (cheese union) played a key role in stabilizing prices for Swiss milk farmers and promoting cheese exports. While this strengthened the farmers' bargaining power, it also led to the standardization of cheese production, reducing both regional diversity and the signifiers of its production context.
By the 1980s, a set of advertising campaigns led to the further detachment of cheese production and consumption - the image of cheese was no longer defined by the farmers’ realities but by urban narratives. To address the Triennale’s theme, “What if nature comes first?”, the film brings everyday stories of a farmer's reality in a Swiss mountain village to an urban setting. By recontextualizing these stories the film highlights the importance of engaging with the environment that sustains the resources we consume.
Abstract