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This past Thursday, August 16th, I sat down to speak with More Gardens’ co-founder Aresh Javadi about the group’s summer residency at The Loisaida Center, their proposed EcoVillage that they hope to build in upstate New York, and how he developed a passion for protecting community gardens. Aresh has a fascinating life story: having been born in Iran then moving to the UK, Louisiana, and eventually New York- where he found his passion in educational and earth-based arts- this man has traveled a good chunk of the country (and world) to teach, create, and advocate for the power of gardens. More Gardens, founded in 1998 in an effort to protect L’Esperanza Garden which was threatened, and eventually demolished, under the Giuliani administration, has been instrumental in the maintenance and protection of over 100 community gardens throughout Loisaida, The Bronx, and Spanish Harlem. 2018 marks this group’s 20th anniversary, and in celebration, Aresh and his interns created a timeline in The Loisaida Center’s recreation room that featured the group’s history alongside world events and visitors’ personal additions (for example, the timeline included the birth of More Gardens’ summer camp in the Bronx alongside a visitor’s post-it addition of their baby’s first steps.) Aresh intends to create an even more extensive version of this timeline in the fall, which will run throughout the center’s winding hallway. Earlier in the summer I had worked alongside the More Gardens interns and was primarily responsible for contacting reporters who had written about More Gardens’ efforts in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, to see if they had further information that might be useful in the documentation of the group’s 20 years of work. Therefore, this interview was very comfortable as Aresh and I were familiar with one another as well as with each other’s stories. Regardless of this familiarity, I found myself in awe of Aresh’s work, and the extensive impact that More Gardens has had despite how singular their original goal was. I also found it personally inspiring to hear about how Aresh was able to explore a variety of interests throughout his life, and then unite them in a productive and selfless way. Throughout this 45 minute interview, Aresh and I cover the connection he feels to Puerto Rican communities, despite not being Puerto Rican himself, the way that human spirituality and wellness is connected to nature, and how he once chained himself to a giant sunflower to protect a garden from being bulldozed; and while I’m not sure it’s possible to capture Aresh’s essence in one sit-down, I do think this audio paints a fairly comprehensive picture of who he is and what he cares about.
The description is really helpful — thank you for including it and for reflecting on what it was like to interview Aresh. I know we talked about it in person, but the comment that “I’m not sure it’s possible to capture Aresh’s essence in one sit-down” demonstrates what’s great and what’s incomplete about an interview. That’s one reason you were assigned to do one! One thing that stands out in this interview is the way in which everyday relationships and unplanned encounters shape his activism, which is, I think, true for a lot of people. It’s almost as if one has an idea of what motivates them (gardens for Aresh) and the flow of people and opportunities shapes the ultimate project. There’s something about this literal organicism that is reassuring and also inspiring. I wonder whether this is helpful for you too in thinking about your “concetration” (for school) and your aspiration (for life)?