Logo Goethe-Institut

Sri Lanka

|

5:00 PM-7:00 PM, IST

Political Life of Plants

Panel Discussion|with Suresh Jayaram, Soham Kacker, Waylon James D’Souza, Meghal Perera, moderated by Sandev Handy

  • Alliance Française de Kotte in Colombo

  • English
  • Free
  • Part of series: Travelling Plants

Discussion: Political Life of Plants (square) © Goethe-Institut | Image Credit: The Herbarium of French Institute of Pondicherry

Join us for an engaging conversation tracing the Political Life of Plants. This panel explores how plants shape and are shaped by political, historical, and cultural forces across South India, Sri Lanka, and the neighbouring archipelagos. Drawing on research, artistic practice, and institutional work, panellists will present species, sites, or stories to examine how the plant world intersects with colonial botany, indigenous knowledge, migration, and material memory.

Speakers: Suresh Jayaram (artist, art historian & arts administrator), Soham Kacker (plant ecologist & Curator of Living Collections, Geoffrey Bawa & Lunuganga Trusts), Waylon James D’Souza (transdisciplinary artist & designer), Meghal Perera (multidisciplinary researcher). Moderated by Sandev Handy (artist, curator & art educator)

Presented in the framework of Travelling Plants — a transdisciplinary exhibition exploring ecology, culture, and the natural world. Born from a creative residency at the French Institute of Pondicherry in March 2024, Travelling Plants is presented by the Goethe-Institut and Alliance Française de Colombo, in collaboration with the French Institute of Pondicherry and Studio Kayamai.

Image Credits: The Herbarium of French Institute of Pondicherry