Transdisciplinary investigation based on a selection of fourteen plants declared invasive in the European Union that are named after historical colonial figures as part of their scientific nomenclature.
The project includes a series of botanical representations containing information of these black-listed plants species, and a group of four sculptures inspired on the Wardian case: a portable greenhouse widely used between the 17th and the 19th centuries to transport exotic flora across the globe.
The Wardian case had major ecological impacts, since it allowed for hundreds of thousands of plants to be transported from remote territories and across harsh climates, unaffected by salty ocean storms, drought, pests, or temperature changes.
Those plants that were named during that period of exploration and cultural domination traveled all the way into Europe, embodying the horror of slow and silent colonial destruction. They are here because we were there, thriving in the face of climate change as one of the major contributors to species extinction and environmental degradation.
The drawings are made by hand on paper, engraved on glass and presented against a text printed with black ink on black paper; which provides information on the historical origin of the plant’s name, its native ecosystem, behaviour and status as an invasive species.
