Next in Bucharest: exploring human-flora relationships through contemporary art and botanical research

A wide collaboration between artists, horticulturists, and architects forms the foundation for a large-scale exhibition, divided among three galleries in Bucharest: Nicolae Comănescu, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Andreea Medar, Ana Maria Micu, and Roman Tolici are among the 32 artists exhibiting in September at Strata, Mobius, and Leilei. The event is scheduled between September 2- October 20, 2023. 

Nicolae Comănescu, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Andreea Medar, Ana Maria Micu, and Roman Tolici are among the 30 artists who are transforming the galleries in Bucharest through “Ecologies of Care and Caring” exhibition, a significant event with a botanical theme, based on interdisciplinary research in contemporary art, architecture, landscaping, and horticulture.

“Amidst the dynamics of the post-industrial era, urbanization continually reshapes spaces, transforms ecosystems, and alters the course of life, changing the discreet structures that sustain it. Plant blindness is the new mantra on the edge of the Anthropocene, a time when the closest connection to nature is often mediated by the fruit and vegetable aisle in the nearest supermarket. In post-human paradigms, technology deceives nostalgics with false meeting points, lush universes constructed through digitization and VR solutions that evoke threads of raw green from the inventory of a passing time”, note the organizers.

“Ecologies of Care and Caring” aims to establish relationships between diverse social and environmental ecosystems, highlight the importance of their interdependence, and develop a network capable of supporting the mutual interests of the entities it encompasses.

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The exhibition is divided into four sections, inspired by pop culture, folk culture, and common understanding: useful plants, poisonous plants, aphrodisiacal plants, and ritualistic plants.

“Ecologies of Care and Caring” begins with a series of questions about the relationship between humans and botanical nature, derived from the homonymy of the word ‘care.’ By following the care for plants, the plants used for care, or concerns in the face of current ecological disasters, the exhibition offers a complex perspective on the role of flora in human life and vice versa. Each section of the exhibition includes live plants, architectural models of structures used for their growth and care, as well as a series of contemporary artworks that polyphonically address and subjectively nuance botanical and architectural research.

Exhibition program:

Useful Plants. Strata Gallery – September 2 – 20, 2023, opening on September 2, at 6:00 PM. Artists: Horia Bernea, Nicolae Comănescu, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Andreea Medar, and Mălina Ionescu, Gabriela Mateescu, Diana Miron, Liliana Mercioiu, Ana Maria Micu, Roman Tolici, Iulia Toma, Miki Velciov, with architectural proposals by Beros Abdul Architects, Stardust architects, Nicolas Triboi, Eliza Yokina. Botanical research by Adrian Mureş – a master’s student in the Faculty of Horticulture in Bucharest, Biodiversity Conservation Management Master’s Program.

Poisonous, Toxic, Harmful Plants. Mobius Gallery – September 7 – 30, 2023, opening on September 7 at 6:00 PM. Artists: Maria Balea, Nicolae Comănescu, Iulian Bisericaru & Dragoş Dogioiu, Roberta Curcă, Katja Lee Eliad, Livia Greaca, Marina Oprea, Natalia Silaghi, Roman Tolici. Botanical research by Andreea Stan – a master’s student in the Faculty of Horticulture in Bucharest, Landscape Architecture Master’s Program.

Aphrodisiacal, Ritualistic Plants. Leilei Gallery – September 16 – October 30, 2023, opening on September 16 at 6:00 PM. Ground floor artists (ritualistic plants): Diana Matilda Crişan, Hortensia Mi Kafkin, Marta Mattioli, taietzel ticalos. Botanical research by Andrei Conţiu – a master’s student in the Faculty of Horticulture in Bucharest, Biodiversity Conservation Management Master’s Program. Artists on the first floor (aphrodisiacal plants): Livia Greaca, Alina Marinescu, Andreea Medar, Ciprian Mureşan, Miron Schmückle. Botanical research by Andriana Gârstea – a master’s student in the Faculty of Horticulture in Bucharest, Biodiversity Conservation Management Master’s Program.