The artist talk with Uriel Orlow takes place In the context of his exhibition «Theatrum Botanicum» at Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen.
In his research-based and process-oriented practice Uriel Orlow (born in Zurich, lives and works in London, Lisbon and Zurich) is concerned with blind spots in the representation of history and ensuing questions of restitution, including repatriating memory to the present. At Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen Orlow presents his large-scale body of work Theatrum Botanicum (2015–2017) which considers the botanical world as a stage for politics. Working from the dual vantage points of South Africa and Europe the project shows plants as witnesses and actors in history, as dynamic agents linking nature and humans, tradition and modernity — across various geographies, histories and knowledge systems. Films, sound works, photographs and installations highlight ‘botanical nationalism’ and other legacies of colonialism, plant migration, bio-piracy, flower diplomacy under apartheid, the role of classification and naming of plants as well as the garden planted by Mandela and his fellow inmates in Robben Island prison.