Knowledge Page

History

At Mediamatic plants were sown in 100 grow beds around the Biotoop in 2015. The grow beds had initially been placed there for several reasons. Part of the containers is part of Twijfel Zaaien, an art installation. Other grow beds are there for kitchen vegetables, some others ornamental. At some point, the containers deteriorated. In this project, these grow beds will be an educational exhibition for visitors. The main theme of the exhibition is medicinal plants. A second part is to spark wonder. Wonder about specific plants. What are plants used for now and in the past? What happened that we have become so dissociated from our plants and nature?

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Twijfel Zaaien installation at the Dijksgracht - The Twijfel Zaaien installation consists of 30 flower beds with questions about life and art. Xiang Yu Yeung

With:
Diana Munteanu, Flavia Terzian, Nikita Lenssen, Sophia Schullan, Thierry V, Anais Legros, Doudouce Knol, Neve Gurbutt, Taylor Early, Vera Catalano, Justine Magnat-Biermé, Yvonne Dogariu, Sadhbh O'Donnell, Marguerite d'Ervau, Fenella Mawdsley, Ada de Gooyer, Margherita Falqui, Alix Briere, Elise Chalcraft

December 2018

Nikita Lenssen and Diana Munteanu worked hard on creating a map for the grow beds.

Living Gallery (January 2019)

There was a moment when the project had the working title: Living Gallery, in case you are looking for older documents.

We asked Eveline Stilma from Innoplant to make a plan for the grow beds around Mediamatic. She wrote the following document which was edited by Diana Munteanu and Flavia Terzian (interns that were intensively working on the project at the time).

Icons, Drawings, and First Plant Signs editions

Anaïs Legros worked hard on designing the first plant signs and icons. There have been a lot of meetings to pick the right icons and 'blockprints' for the plants. Thierry took over from her with creating the drawings of the plants.

Leoniek Bontje

When the project shifted to the medicinal value of the plants, we needed to know what was growing around the Biotoop. With the help of Leoniek Bontje we identified more than 200 plants that you can find in the Plant database.

Simone Brus

One particular morning, Simone Brus came to Mediamatic to bring Willem a copper pan he bought off her online. She noticed the grow beds and couldn't help herself to comment on its status. She shared her own situation with her garden and blew us away with her knowledge. Ever since she has guided our Tuesday afternoons in the garden - from weeding to planting, from trimming to sowing.

Another round of ordering plant signs and spreading the word

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Interns that were involved in the Hortus project

  • Diana Munteanu (... - Juli 2019)
  • Nikita Lenssen  (... - Juli 2019)
  • Anaïs Legros (... - August 2019)
  • Flavia Terzian (... - November 2019)
  • Sophia Schullan (... - January 2020)
  • Thierry Vrakking (... - 2020)
  • Yvonne Dogariu (... - August 2020)
  • Doudouce ( - November 2020)
  • Vera ( - December 2020)
  • Justine (June 2020 - October 2020)
  • Taylor (September 2020 - October 2020)
  • Neve (September 2020 - January 2021)
  • Elise Chalcraft (April 2021 - November 2022)
  • Sadhbh (June 2021 - 
  • Marguerite
  • Fenella
  • Ada
  • Margherita Falqui
  • Alix Briere
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Working hard to finish Casting Doubt - Finishing the installation Casting Doubt. A project by Jasmin Moeller en Masha Ru. Xiang Yu Yeung

With: Jimena Mendizabal,
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21-03-2020 Hortus Dijkspark - Starting from Dijkspark, we're mapping the flowers in our city.  A big variety of plants is growing around our Biotoop, from healing to toxic, from dark green to purple. You can visit the Hortus Dijkspark at any moment. Filippo Iannone