Vegetal Companions: Arts, Sciences and Temporalities of Co-Existence

Focusing on the agency of plant and tree collectives and their ability to shape entire ecologies, artists and researchers aim to critically reposition conventional human-centered concepts that highlight control and mastery over nature. »Vegetal Companions« features curated workshops, seminars, reading sessions, experimental installations, audio walks, and video screenings. They explore plant life and arboreal agency, related knowledges and sensing technologies as well as their cultural imaginaries, representations, and aesthetics.

By understanding these nonhuman organisms as vegetal companions, our aim is to trouble linear timescales and cultural imaginaries. In times of global uncertainty, such vegetal companions – including the sites and soils where they dwell – urge us to speculate about possible future scenarios of sustainable coexistence. In a close dialog with our venue, the botanical garden of the Späth-Arboretum and its human and vegetal collaborators, we use »Vegetal Companions« to reflect on the possibilities of different medial formats as forms of knowledge creation, be it soil as archive, art as research or philosophy as gardening.

Credits

»Vegetal Companions« is a collaboration of Späth Aboretum with the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity« at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin as part of the ＿matter Festival 2025.

Team Credits:

Concept & Coordination: Robert Stock, Rahel Kesselring, Anika Dreilich (Späth-Arboretum), Assisted by Maja Avnat
With Contributions by: Maja Avnat, Johanna Hehemeyer-Cürten, Rahel Kesselring, Emma Sicher

Dates

Opening Event: 13 May 2025, 4:00–5:00 pm
Event Series: 13 May–28 June 2025
Opening Hours: Wed–Sun 10:00 am–6:00 pm

Free Admission.

Related Events

Tuesday, 13 May 2025, 4:00–5:00 pm
»Planted Archives: Spuren der Umweltgeschichte im Botanischen Garten des Späth-Arboretum«
Installation and Opening Event
Hosted by Rahel Kesselring and Maja Avnat

For the processual installation »Planted Archives«, soils from sites of environmental-historical significance were relocated to the botanical garden of Späth-Arboretum. Understanding soil as an archive of various human and non-human activities, the different soil types are left untreated in order to observe the unplanned development of plants as a consequence of histories of nurturing and sowing, extracting, and contaminating.

»Planted Archives« will be launched on May 13th with an event featuring readings of thematic texts that offer multidisciplinary perspectives on the installation.

Saturday, 17 May 2025, 2:00–5:00 pm
»Embark – Zirkuläre Materialerforschung«
Workshop Organized by Johanna Hehemeyer-Cürten, Kira Becker, Alena Stuhr, and Julia Blumental

The workshop »Embark« explores the potential of pine bark, a byproduct of the timber industry. Three actions – peeling, processing, and mulching – test its circular use. Together, participants create a modular object, exhibited in the Arboretum and observed over several weeks. In a second step, the object will be shredded into mulch and applied to garden beds, completing the natural cycle.

5/6 June 2025
»Arboreales Wissen: Praktiken, Materialität, Zeitlichkeit«
Workshop Organized by Robert Stock and Rahel Kesselring

Thursday, 5 June 2025, 9:00–11:00 pm
Friday, 6 June 2025, 9:30 am–5:30 pm

The workshop »Arboreales Wissen« reflects scientific and artistic perspectives on the interaction between plants and humans. It focuses on the creation of arboreal (tree-like/tree-related) knowledge through scientific, artistic, academic and popular practices. We discuss how different forms of knowledge creation with botanical protagonists inform and change the perception of natural and cultural phenomena. Lectures, collaborative discussions, and practical exercises will enable a deeper understanding of the multi-layered narratives and materialities that plants and forests embody.

28 June 2025 Event Program as Part of Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften 2025
5:00–8:00 pm
»Biodiversity and Design: A Journey Through Fermentation and Local Plants«
Workshop Hosted by Emma Sicher

Join us for an interactive workshop where design meets botany to explore the fascinating world of material biodiversity. We will dive into the potential of »invasive« plants found around the Arboretum and the transformative power of fermentation. Did you know microorganisms can produce cellulose? Or that so-called »unwanted« plants often possess health-promoting properties? Together, we will explore ways to engage with biodiversity, raise awareness about local plants, and envision creative uses for locally »grown« biomaterials. Please note that the number of participants for this event is limited. Please register via email to emma.sicher [​at​] hu-berlin.de until June 23, 2025.

6:00–7:00 pm
»Die Bäume des Späth-Arboretums«
Audio Walk Hosted by Maja Avnat

The Späth-Arboretum is a historic collection of many special trees with a multifaceted history. This audio walk focuses on the trees’ stories and sheds new light on the garden and the history of the relationships between humans and plants entangled within it. The audio walk is in German. Participants are asked to bring their own smartphone with headphones. No registration is needed.

8:00–10:00 pm
»Botanischer Filmabend«
Curated by Rahel Kesselring

Plants and forests in the history of film are depicted as mere backdrops for human action, as passive objects of investigation and conquest, as mysterious counterparts, or sometimes even as fearsome adversaries. This film screening will be dedicated to the diverse roles of plants, trees, and forests in cinematic works. The focus of the event is on documentary films and artistic positions that explore themes such as the agency of plants and the complex relationship between humans and the vegetal world. The open-air screening will be accompanied by a short introduction and a panel discussion.