A transdisciplinary event on the migration of plants opens in Bengaluru today. Titled ‘Travelling Plants’, it features photographs, artworks, short films, installations, workshops, and a panel discussion.
The show arrives in Bengaluru after touring cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, and Delhi.
Suresh Jayaram takes forward the Bengaluru edition from its previous curator Lina Vincent. According to Jayaram, the exhibition offers a glimpse into plants and trees that have journeyed across continents and centuries to become part of daily life in India.
Chilli, for instance, was brought from South America by the Portuguese through their trading colony in Goa. Coffee came to Karnataka when Sufi mystic Baba Budan carried seven beans from Yemen after a pilgrimage. Bengaluru’s Lalbagh Botanical Garden and its avenue trees, Jayaram notes, exemplify how species from around the world have acclimatised and found a home here.
The exhibition also examines invasive species. He cites the example of parthenium, or Congress grass. It arrived in India with wheat imports from the US as part of food aid. Jayaram hopes the show will encourage viewers to engage more consciously with nature in an urban context and appreciate the diversity shaped by migration.
The events will be held across two venues, 1 Shanthi Road Studio Gallery, Shantinagar, and Alliance Française, Vasanthnagar, with a guided tree walk at Cubbon Park.
October 10 to 19. Look up the schedule on @1.shanthiroad on Instagram.