The exhibition Seeds and Souls proposes new explorations into the connections between botanical histories, colonial legacies and diasporic experiences.
Presented at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, which was built in the late 19th century on the grounds of Copenhagen’s then botanical garden, the exhibition draws parallels between original soil and vegetation – their extraction, consumption, transplantation, and mutation into new environments – and the phenomena of cultural dispersions anchored within histories that continue to impact us today.
The participating artists reflect on these questions through various forms of tangible and immaterial excavations, the uncovering of overlooked and sometimes contentious histories, and through ‘re-rooting’ as a way of reclaiming agency over these histories and cultural expressions. Visitors can look forward to encounter large scale and sculptural textile installations, video and mixed media pieces, as well as paintings.
Participating artists: Brook Andrew, Shiraz Bayjoo, Sonia Boyce, Ishita Chakraborty, Annalee Davis, Michelle Eistrup, Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe, Linda Lamignan, Yvon Ngassam.
Seeds and Souls is curated by Christine Eyene, Lecturer in Contemporary Art at Liverpool John Moores University and Research Curator at Tate Liverpool and is on view through 18 February 2024.
Ishita Chakraborty, Exotic Plants in the Garden – What to Do?, 2022. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Ishita Chakraborty, Exotic Plants in the Garden – What to Do?, 2022. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Ishita Chakraborty, Exotic Plants in the Garden – What to Do?, 2022. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Ishita Chakraborty, Exotic Plants in the Garden – What to Do?, 2022. Sonia Boyce, Shaggy Bear, 2021. Detail, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Sonia Boyce, Shaggy Bear, 2021. Ishita Chakraborty, Exotic Plants in the Garden – What to Do?, 2022. Detail, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Sonia Boyce, Shaggy Bear, 2021. Crop Over, 2007. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Brook Andrew, Ngaay Ngajuu Dhugul Birra (To See My Skin Broken), 2022. Seeing time II, 2021. Seeing time VIII, 2021. Seeing time X, 2021. Seeing time XI, 2021. Seeing time XII, 2021. Muraymin 1, 2022. Muraymin 2, 2022. Muraymin 3, 2022. Garru dhugul birra, 2022. Gaban, 2022. Yirawari, 2022. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Bruxelles. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Brook Andrew, Ngaay Ngajuu Dhugul Birra (To See My Skin Broken), 2022. Seeing time X, 2021. Seeing time XI, 2021. Seeing time XII, 2021. Muraymin 2, 2022. Gaban, 2022. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Bruxelles. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Brook Andrew, Ngaay Ngajuu Dhugul Birra (To See My Skin Broken), 2022. Seeing time II, 2021. Seeing time VIII, 2021. Seeing time X, 2021. Seeing time XI, 2021. Seeing time XII, 2021. Muraymin 1, 2022. Muraymin 2, 2022. Muraymin 3, 2022. Garru dhugul birra, 2022. Gaban, 2022. Yirawari, 2022. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Bruxelles. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Brook Andrew, guulany girlang, 2022. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Bruxelles. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Brook Andrew, Ngaay Ngajuu Dhugul Birra (To See My Skin Broken), 2022. Garru dhugul birra, 2022. Detail, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Bruxelles. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Michelle Eistrup, Mineral Emmisaries, 2021. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Michelle Eistrup, Mineral Emmisaries, 2021. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Michelle Eistrup, Mineral Emmisaries, 2021. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Shiraz Bayjoo, Zot Konn – Yeman (They know – The Wise), 2022. Palm Crown, 2022. Roots and Vine, 2022. Tangena Ordeal, 2022. Plantation Landscape, 2022. Split-architecture 1, 2023. Split-architecture 2, 2023. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Shiraz Bayjoo, Zot Konn – Yeman (They know – The Wise), 2022. Palm Crown, 2022. Roots and Vine, 2022. Tangena Ordeal, 2022. Plantation Landscape, 2022. Split-architecture 1, 2023. Split-architecture 2, 2023. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Shiraz Bayjoo, Palm Crown, 2022. Split-architecture 1, 2023. Detail, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Shiraz Bayjoo, Tangena Ordeal, 2022. Split-architecture 2, 2023.
Linda Lamignan, Petroleum Landscapes: If we let it burn, 2023. Detail, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Linda Lamignan, Petroleum Landscapes: If we let it burn, 2023. Detail, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Annalee Davis, A Hymn to the Banished, 2022. PART I: As long as we see, and we know and we remember (Merle Collins), 2022. Part III: A Scroll of Banished Women, 2022. PART IV: A Book of Charms & Incantations, 2022. PART V: A Book of Charms & Incantations, 2022. PART VI: A Choker, 2022. PART VIII: Thread, Round, Hook, Whip, 2022. PART IX: An Impossible Map, 2022. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe, S/T, 2017. Ohina, 2018. Yohomi, 2018. Ketipa, 2018. Pee nahe, 2018. Nashi, 2018. Puu usiki, 2018. Pohoro, 2018. Yono, 2018. Nioma Henaki, 2018. Detail, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Annalee Davis, A Hymn to the Banished, 2022. Detail, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Annalee Davis, A Hymn to the Banished, 2022. Detail, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Annalee Davis, A Hymn to the Banished, 2022. Detail, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Annalee Davis, A Hymn to the Banished, 2022. Detail, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Yvon Ngassam, Lolodorf, a Colonial History, 2021-23. Lolodorf, 2021-23. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
Yvon Ngassam, Lolodorf, a Colonial History, 2021-23. Lolodorf, 2021-23. Installation view, Seeds and Souls, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by David Stjernholm.
