Groundwork:Plant Story Exchange

Groundwork was a participatory creative project, staged as part of the Botanica Festival, Brisbane Botanical Gardens on May 15-16, 2021. The project involved the distribution of 300 native plants to the public from a tent in a public thoroughfare of the festival. On the day of the performance each member of the public was invited to choose from a selection of eight native plants. They were then given two plants in exchange for a story or anecdote related in some way to plants. Each plant came with a tag that described its characteristics, cultural history, indigenous links and a leading prompt for the shared story. The text of the plant tags were prepared by artist Caitlin Franzmann and plants included Brisbane Laurel, Native Hibiscus and Native Ginger. The instruction to the receiver of the gift was that they would keep one plant and give the other to a friend – whilst also gifting them a further story. In these ways the project sought to build rich new relationships between participants and Australian native flora, with the intention of both alleviating “plant blindness” and encouraging the renewal of cultural perspectives on how we relate to the plants that surround us. Groundwork therefore used the gifting of native plants as an opportunity to share the personal and cultural stories that they evoke. The project sought to build rich new relationships between participants and Australian native flora to alleviate “plant blindness” and encourage the renewal of cultural perspectives on how we relate to the plants that surround us.