Paper short abstract:

In Melanesia, horticultural gardens have often been described as works of art while magic has long been an important aspect of gardening processes, success and beauty. But what about gardens without magic? This paper discusses the relation between social processes of growth and gardens' aesthetics.

Paper long abstract:

Geographer Joël Bonnemaison, in his article "Magic gardens in Tanna" (Vanuatu), described the planting of ceremonial yam gardens as "something of a work of art". He was not the first nor the last to use such an expression to characterise horticultural gardens in Melanesia. Yet, as most ethnographers also pointed out, the aesthetics of gardens was not the mere result of a taste for ornament but rather was the manifestation of important technical and social aspects entering gardening processes. Hence, magic and the respect of taboos often appeared as important factors in the success and the resulting beauty of these gardens. In the Christian village of Tasiriki on the island of Santo, Vanuatu, people do not practice garden magic anymore, yet I too was struck by the beauty of the gardens. Later on, in a poem ending by the description of a water taro garden, I drew analogies deeply embedded in my perception of the place and its sociality, subjectively capturing their aesthetics. Yet, would I think of Tasiriki gardens as works of art? The definition of the concepts of "art", "aesthetics" and "beauty", their mutual relationships, cultural bias and cross-cultural pertinence as well as their embeddedness in social processes have long been debated in anthropology. This panel further invites us to consider these concepts in relation to gardening. Drawing on my own fieldwork as well as other works of Melanesian ethnography on gardens, I do so by considering the aesthetics of growth and its relevance in people's daily life.