Open Lab/Plant Lives
Artist residency, public workshops and exhibition,
Darat al Funun, Amman, 2016-17
As artists in residence at Darat al Funun, Amman, in 2016 and 2017, Silva and Eva Sajovic created a map of the site’s historically significant gardens. Over the course of two research residencies in Jordan, during which they led public workshops and initiated conversations and guided walks with local people, they gathered botanical knowledge and personal stories connected to the garden’s edible plants.
They travelled throughout the country, meeting farmers working in both large-scale agriculture and small permaculture initiatives, as well as scientists researching the effects of rising temperatures and decreasing rainfall.
Drawing on this collected material, they created a map of Darat’s garden that weaves together multiple layers: the current state of its edible plants; the colonial history surrounding the garden’s establishment; and imagined futures shaped by the climate crisis, including the potential displacement of both people and plant species.
The work was presented as an exhibition in Darat al Funun’s Open Lab, 25 March to 12 April 2017.
Installation views and workshops, Open Lab/Plant Lives, Darat al Funun, 2017
Garden Object I
Garden Object II
Garden Object III
Garden Object IV
Artist Talk
Plant / Lives talk with Corinne Silva
and Eva Sajovic
