Pia Marktl

Context

In recent years, the decline of small farmers has become a pressing issue in agricultural communities around the world. In the Tyrol region of Austria, smallholders play a crucial role in food production, the preservation of rural culture and landscape conservation. Hardly any other European Country has more small-scale farming structures than Austria. 

However, economic factors and the perceived unattractiveness of the profession have led to a sharp decline in their numbers. Having grown up in the countryside myself, I am familiar with the quality of food produced by such farmers and the important work they do daily. Nonetheless, through exchanges with many international people here in London and elsewhere, I have realised that this knowledge about the procurement of food, the closeness and love for animals and nature is not self-evident. In my country, too, I have noticed an increasing alienation between consumers and the food production process, as many are unable to distinguish between mass-produced and sustainably produced products. 

Small-scale farmers are an important part of Austria‘s identity and I have endeavoured to offer them an appropriate stage through my projects. I found ways of communication and visualisation that summarise their role and significance by encouraging discussion and knowledge transfer. To delve into the concept of identity and its definition, I initiated an inquiry into this subject matter.

Research

A crucial aspect of my design process involved immersive field research in my home region of Tyrol, Austria, where I conducted interviews with small-scale farmers and observed their perspectives and insights. It had a significant impact on my work, as it confirmed it in terms of the developed formal language I created, which I documented with photographs as part of my process.