A Sense of Flora explored the inter-relationships between a sense of place and flora – particularly food crops which are intricately connected to cultural memories, traditions and practices. As part of the project, I delivered a series of workshops exploring this theme at Rainbow Haven, a charity which supports asylum seekers, refugees and people experiencing displacement. Participants’ shared their stories through hand-written texts in different languages (Amharic, Arabic, English, Farsi, Kurdish, Tigrinya and Urdu) which accompanied their prints. At the same time, I researched botany collections at Manchester Museum focusing upon food security to develop three new digital drawings. The project culminated in an exhibition at the museum which comprised of a large-scale print installation of participant’s work and my new drawings. Participant’s and their families attended the opening event – we had a fantastic turnout – and enjoyed language-specific tours of the museum.
My digital drawings represent three plants that scientists are researching as potential ‘crops for the future’, which are more resilient to the challenges of climate change. They are varieties of traditional crops from around the world, and their local names are included in the artworks alongside their classification under the Linnaean system. Their names vary across different regions and are wonderfully evocative of identity and sense of place. Clouds of microscopic pollens in the background refer to the ongoing scientific research to address global food security and plant biodiversity.