How contemporary artists reframe botanical collections and herbariums to tell stories of migration, colonial trade, and ecology.
This article explores how artists repurpose preserved plant archives to illuminate historical journeys, exchanges, and ecosystems, transforming quiet specimens into dynamic narratives about movement, power, and environment across time.
Published August 09, 2025
In galleries and classrooms alike, artists increasingly engage botanical archives as living records rather than inert objects. They reanimate pressed leaves, dried flowers, and ledger-like herbarium pages by pairing them with contemporary media such as video, sound, and sculpture. The result is not merely a display of pretty specimens but a recontextualization that invites viewers to consider how plants traveled with people, goods, and ideas. By tracing routes from colonial ports to inland markets, these works reveal the tangled networks that shaped ecosystems. The archives become stage-setting backdrops for reconsidering ownership, provenance, and responsibility in natural history.
Some projects center on the labor and voices typically excluded from botanical histories. Artists collaborate with Indigenous communities, archivists, and ecologists to document forgotten data, eradicate romantic myths, and recognize gaps in the records. They annotate and reinterpret herbarium sheets with markers of migration, trade, and climate change, transforming sterile labels into prompts for storytelling. Through interactive installations, visitors can follow migratory paths on maps, hear voices annotating specimens, or watch living samples responding to simulated environmental shifts. The work thereby foregrounds reciprocity, stewardship, and critical inquiry.
Works emphasize crossing borders through plant encounters and trade histories.
A growing strand of practice juxtaposes archival precision with speculative futures. Artists use ultraviolet ink to reveal faded handwriting on herbarium labels, unveil hidden layers beneath glass, or project imagined histories onto the surface of pressed specimens. The layering invites viewers to question who curated what counts as evidence and whose narratives survive archival neglect. By incorporating environmental data, such works also acknowledge ongoing ecological pressures—from invasive species to habitat loss—and highlight how humans have mediated plant survival over centuries. The outcome is a hybrid document: a tangible artifact that resonates with current concerns about sovereignty and care.
Beyond display, many projects invite participatory research that blends archival study with fieldwork. Communities contribute stories about cultivation, trade routes, and plant usage, turning herbarium pages into living documents rather than museum relics. This collaborative method often results in new specimen records, citizen science data, or community-curated dioramas that reflect multiple perspectives. The artist acts as mediator, translating lay knowledge into formal presentation while preserving the integrity of the original collection. In doing so, the work demonstrates that botanical archives can be dynamic, inclusive tools for education and reflection.
Colonial trade is reframed as a complex, contested system.
Migration becomes a core motif when artists trace seeds and specimens along diasporic journeys. They map how crops moved with enslaved people, colonists, traders, and explorers, revealing hidden genealogies. By aligning plant provenance with personal narratives, these works connect distant geographies and temporal scales. The installation might juxtapose a seed catalog from one empire with oral histories from communities who kept agrarian know-how alive through upheaval. In this way, botanical objects illuminate resilience, adaptation, and the unbroken chain linking land, labor, and memory.
A notable strategy is to simulate ecological exchange by pairing herbarium sheets with audio recordings of markets, harbor sounds, and shipboard creaks. The multisensory approach situates the plant within a bustling historical economy and invites visitors to feel the pressure of global trade on flora. Concomitantly, artists foreground biocultural exchanges—how a plant becomes a symbol, a currency, or a culinary staple in new climates. The result is a more nuanced understanding of ecological networks, one that acknowledges both contribution and disruption in human-plant relationships.
Ecology and climate change intersect with historical narratives.
Several artists challenge the myth of pristine nature by presenting herbarium sheets as evidence of exploitation and extraction. They highlight material flows—money, slaves, and ships—that moved with plant specimens. By layering documents, stamps, and annotations from different time periods, the works reveal how colonial economies relied on botanical knowledge and commodification. The visual rhythm may juxtapose pristine specimen mounts with grim ledger entries, underscoring the paradoxes at the heart of collecting cultures. The intention is not to condemn science but to complicate the narratives surrounding it, inviting critical discussion about provenance and responsibility.
Others reframe colonial trade as a tapestry of collaboration and contested ownership. They acknowledge indigenous agronomies, enslaved labor, and local artisans who contributed to the dissemination of plant knowledge. In practice, this means co-authored installations, shared authorship on plaques, and archival donations that diversify the telling of botanical histories. The artworks often incorporate contemporary maps, timelines, and tactile components that encourage audience participation. Viewers can trace routes, compare period documents, and reflect on how power shapes what gets preserved and what becomes public memory.
The art of storytelling through herbarium objects empowers public memory.
An emergent thread considers how shifting climates alter the meaning of preserved specimens. Artists simulate climate perturbations and observe how plant stability within a herbarium changes under pressure. This approach reframes collections as living archives capable of informing present-day ecological decisions. By presenting speculative futures alongside historical records, these works invite questions about adaptability, seed sovereignty, and habitat restoration. The aesthetic often blends meticulous taxonomic detail with evocative landscapes, creating a juxtaposition that is both informative and emotionally resonant.
The eco-critical dimension extends to stewardship ethics. Projects may invite audiences to participate in seed-saving workshops or collaborative ré-planting experiences that honor traditional knowledge while recognizing the limits of colonial-era collections. By integrating community-based conservation strategies, artists demonstrate how archives can support resilient ecosystems rather than merely cataloging them. The resulting pieces emphasize care, interdependence, and practical action, turning quiet shelves into call-to-action spaces that inspire ongoing engagement with local and global biomes.
Storytelling through botanical archives invites audiences to inhabit multiple vantage points—planetary, local, and personal. Artists craft narratives that connect migration histories with ecological futures, making the past feel immediate and relevant. By reinterpreting labels, recontextualizing specimens, and including participatory elements, these works invite empathy, curiosity, and critical thinking. The stories are not linear but braided, reflecting how plant movements intersect with human choices, climate shifts, and cultural exchange. The result is a more inclusive, dialogic museum experience that respects both science and storytelling.
Ultimately, contemporary artists transform herbariums from static records into living forums for dialogue. They propose new methods for documenting plant histories that honor diverse voices and acknowledge ongoing colonial legacies. The artworks become tools for reflection on species resilience, cultural memory, and environmental justice. By foregrounding migration, trade, and ecology as interconnected threads, these projects encourage viewers to rethink what counts as knowledge and who gets to tell the story of the natural world. The archive, thus, becomes a participatory instrument for imagining equitable futures.
