4A Lab Academy: Ecological Entanglements across Collections – Plant Lives and Beyond

From 4–8 November 2024 the interdisciplinary program 4A_Lab (an initiative of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut and the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz SPK) invites the public to the academy “Ecological Entanglements across Collections – Plant Lives and Beyond”. In dialogue with international researchers, museum experts, and an interested audience, current ways of thinking about plant and non-human life forms will be discussed, and the role of plants in artistic-aesthetic practices and human knowledge production will be critically examined. Young researchers, who have been investigating the artistic and ecological processes of plants in the SPK collections since 2019, will offer insights into their research results.

On 6 November 2024 the lectures by Sussan Babaie (London), Parul Singh (Berlin), Mahroo Moosavi (Berlin), Feng Schöneweiss (Berlin), and Stefan Weber (Berlin) at the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin will specifically address under the title “Paradise Drama” the connection between vegetation, power and resistance in Iran, India and China between 1600-1850. They will discuss the design of gardens as religious, spiritual and political power structures and examine their role in various forms of resistance.

The lectures and panels are open to the public and can be attended individually.

Please note that the workshops and visits in English are for Academy guests only.