Holding Home

During my residency with The Artist and the Others, I developed a research-based project that bridges the gap between botanical science and the human experience of migration. My work focused on endangered and disappearing plant species, conducted in dialogue with the Munich Botanical Garden and local archives. By observing how plants travel, disappear, and take root in unfamiliar soils, I found a powerful metaphor for the movement of people—particularly the recent displacement of Ukrainian women. In collaboration with artist Sara Hashmi, we explored the parallels between these "migrating" plants and the fragile preservation of cultural identity in exile.

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While Sara’s work centered on the invisible labor and rituals of immigrant mothers, my practice approached botanical illustration as a delicate system of knowledge that records both presence and loss. This culminated in a collaborative performance at the Halle 6, where we used textile as a shared canvas for our memories and gestures. During the performance in Habibi Kiosk, I drew botanical studies on fabric, wrote down its titles, and after this I washed them away with water, leaving behind "ghosts" of the flowers. This act served as a poignant reminder of the beauty and history that vanish when we fail to provide care. Together, our project challenged the audience to reconsider their connection to the environment and to each other, placing the ethics of care at the heart of the global movement.

 

Presented at Halle 6 and at Habibi Kiosk, Munich, Germany

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