Some believe that the capitals of temples and Egyptian funerary art, decorated with plant motifs, were humanity’s first herbariums. In ancient history, Pliny the Elder stands out, having gathered and recorded both popular and scholarly knowledge, to which he added the results of his own research.

A few decades ago, students had to compile herbariums as a way of gaining a better understanding of plant life. Modern times have brought apps that, in seconds, identify and tell us everything about a plant.

But our intention was not to delve into the history of herbariums through a scientific or classificatory lens, nor to catalogue species. Nor did we set out to compile an inventory of the collections made by residents of Porto’s hostels, artists, neighbours and visitors to MIRA Galerias in the Pátio de Miraflor vegetable garden, on the street and in the surrounding area.

An invitation: to look at the ground we walk on

Our fast-paced lives lead us to look ahead, to look up and to the side, but we rarely notice the life that sprouts beneath our feet. Over the last four years, during which we have developed projects together, we have explored practices that celebrate the slowing down of gestures, the lowering of our gaze, bending down to the ground and gathering leaves, flowers, herbs...

We gathered and used these greens and a few colours and worked our magic by turning them blue or printing the plants onto cloth like stamps to create memories. We carried out simple exercises of gathering, drying and presenting in a disorderly fashion, here in this exhibition, as a testimony to wandering and sharing collections, on the earth, on the ground, whilst at the same time conversing and weaving relationships between people.

In this presentation, we have herbariums from the EPHEMERA Archive, and the “Great Herbarium of Shadows” by Lourdes Castro. And we have our dried plants set against colours, the blue cyanotypes and the

eco-prints produced under the guidance of the artist Paula Roush.

“This Is Not a Herbarium”, no!

“This is not a herbarium”, but rather a sort of notebook of affections, a map of plant and, above all, human survival in our circumstances. In a world in turmoil, we gather what nature provides us with, creating and cultivating ways of being that bring us some hope for the future.

This exhibition

This exhibition forms part of the ‘Chão, Terra e Pessoas’ project and presents works produced in two workshops led by artist Paula Roush: one on ecoprinting and the other on cyanotype.

The raw materials were sourced from the Pátio de Miraflor vegetable garden, combined with eco-friendly chemicals and sunlight. Hands, imagination and the joy of being together – residents and staff from the Porto Hostels, artists, neighbours and the MIRA public – produced the works on display in this house.

(Manuela Matos Monteiro)

“This is not a herbarium” extends beyond the Albergues do Porto de Campanhã centre and into MIRA, with the exhibition Andamentos no Espaço e no Tempo, which opens on 20 September at 4.00 pm.

Opening hours: Wednesday to Saturday, from 3.00 pm to 7.00 pm.

Photographs: Andreia Ferreira, Beatriz Vital,

Manuela Matos Monteiro, Paula Roush

Installation: The Albergues do Porto and MIRA Galerias team

Support:

Portuguese Republic /DGARTES - Directorate-General for the Arts/ RPAC - Portuguese Network of Contemporary Art