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astronomical orchard (malm)

The MALM collective will take over the orchard of the Vevey Astronomical Observatory for their residency. The site hosts a community garden (Permariviera), an orchard of about fifteen fruit trees and shrubs (Prospecierara), as well as an Astronomical Observatory run by its members (SAHL). It will culminate in a public and collective sharing on 3 and 4 October 2026.

MALM brings together Margaux Bula, geographer and visual artist; Amaranta Fontcuberta, biologist and science-society mediator; Laura Gönczy, filmmaker; and Mathilda Olmi, photographer. Their diverse practices and perspectives come together to create artistic, documentary and sensitive forms.

Thy develop an artistic, social and environmental practice that explores the relationships between living beings, territories and ecosystems. Attentive to the specificities of the places they inhabit, they create projects that invite us to observe, explore and celebrate the richness of the living world.

https://malmcollectif.com/

Commoning

The work of the MALM collective originates in ordinary places, often on the margins of spaces dedicated to art, and focuses on what unfolds there, paying attention to the materials, bodies and gestures that circulate within them.

In the Verger de l'Observatoire in Vevey, a stretch of public land enclosed between private properties, the collective centred its work on the notion of faire commun (making common, or "commoning"). "Making," because action is fluid, because it is by acting together that we forge a shared history and draw the horizons we choose.

Expressed in many different ways, faire commun first became faire chorale, forming a choir: a regular, shared practice throughout the residency. Passed on from voice to voice, songs tied to common lands, agricultural work and collective struggles made old stories resonate in the orchard alongside the issues of the present.

In order to be part of it, custom-made forms were modelled onto the orchard's trees, a kind of clay prosthesis that responds to drought by serving as nesting boxes and water troughs, or simply becomes an integral part of the landscape.

The square tower, a bastion from another age, becomes the echo of a real, parallel struggle by acting as a barrier, taking on the colours of the orchard to urge people to defend the commons. And it is right next to the trees, in the cosy, muffled atmosphere of a small hut, that the MALM collective comes together as one body, proposing to start from raw sensations in order to inhabit the space.

Finally, as the foundation and binding agent of the collective's project, a raisinée (a traditional fruit syrup, here made from apples) invites people to faire avec, to make with, and to make do with. With apples that were gleaned, donated or salvaged from the neighbourhood's inhabitants, with a recipe picked up here and there that becomes a gesture of transmission and memory brought into action. But above all, with the long hours of cooking over the fire, which offer a pretext for sharing a moment of passing time.

Events (june-septembre):

  • Singing the Commons, choir:

    Next dates: 24.09 / 03.10 at 18h30-20h00

    The chosen songs evokes the pooling of agricultural land and the ties that bind us to a territory. No musical experience is necessary: you just need to want to lend your voice to the group. Sheet music will be handed out on site. Address: Sentier des Ruerettes, 1800 Vevey.
  • Collective Apple collection & community "raisinée" (apple butter)

    from September 9 to 30, 2026

    We need you! You can bring your juicing apples to one of the partner collection points: Le Bachibouzouk / Café des Argiles / Vevey Tourist Office / épicoop / Bokoloko.

    On October 3, from early morning and over 24 hours, the juice from your apples will be cooked on site at the Astronomical Observatory to make a thick, tasty raisinée (apple butter). On Sunday the 4th, you'll be able to come pick up your jar of raisinée, ready to enjoy this winter.

Closing weekend program 3+4 Oct.


Sentier de la Tour-Carrée 6, 1800 Vevey

October 3, 10am–midnight

  • Exhibition in the orchard, 10am–7pm
  • Cooking of the raisinée, until midnight
  • Intervention La Colle collective - Collective Tools Project
    1:00–3:00 pm (registration preferred but not required; recommended from age 15 and up; write to malmcollectif@protonmail.com)
  • Vegan crêpes by Chouette Galette, in collaboration with artisan Isciyo, 3–9pm
  • Program and residency's presentation by MALM + FCDd, 16h:30pm
  • Community singing (citizens' choir), 5–7pm
  • Cider from Acta Non Verba, 6–10pm
  • [in parallel at the Astronomical Observatory] "Planetarium: stargazing" session, 6:30–8:15pm (registration required on the Observatory's website, limited spots)

October 4: until noon