Research residency space for collaborative learning and experimentation around plant-human relationships and artistic practices based on sacred plants.
Las Yerbas Apothecary
Curatorial Research Residency by Liana_____Collective
Canal Projects, NYC
July to October 2023
Themes: Plant intelligences, Futures Design, Decolonizing plant wisdom, Healing Plants.
Approaches: Anthropology and Design approaches, Experimental Pedagogies, Art Dialogues, Speculative Design, Curatorial Practices, Action Research approaches.
My role: Educator, Facilitator, Researcher, Designer, Storyteller, Strategic Communicator.
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Curatorial Research Residency by Liana_____Collective
Canal Projects, NYC
July to October 2023
Themes: Plant intelligences, Futures Design, Decolonizing plant wisdom, Healing Plants.
Approaches: Anthropology and Design approaches, Experimental Pedagogies, Art Dialogues, Speculative Design, Curatorial Practices, Action Research approaches.
My role: Educator, Facilitator, Researcher, Designer, Storyteller, Strategic Communicator.
“Las Yerbas” Apothecary was a space dedicated to interspecies research focused on the power of plants. During our residency at Canal Projects (June-October, 2023), Liana, our Curatorial Research Collective, facilitated opportunities to foster the exchange of knowledge between plants and humans through multidisciplinary interactions with artists, Indigenous sabedores (knowledge keepers), and members of the local community.
Half traditional herb shop and half cabinet of curiosities, the "Las Yerbas” Apothecary showcased aesthetic and cultural contrasts between Indigenous medicinal knowledge and Western alchemical practices that arose from the fusion of exotic elements and substances sourced from other realms.
Through our research and pedagogical exercises in collective knowledge-building, we aimed to broaden the understanding of sacred plants and advocated for their mystical, political, and medicinal significance among New York City's local and diasporic communities.
About Liana Collective
At Liana, we are a multidisciplinary collective led by Colombian artists and social researchers: Angélica Cuevas (MA in Anthropology, The New School), Juan Pablo Caicedo (MA in Arts and Politics, NYU), and Giselly Mejía (MFA in Transdisciplinary Design, Parsons). Our collective explores the intricate relationships between humans and plants, as well as artistic practices rooted in medicinal and sacred plants.
Our mission is to broaden people’s understanding of plants as active entities with agency. Our work passionately advocates for the mystical, political, and medicinal significance of sacred plants, which continuously nurture and strengthen many diasporic and local communities.
During our residency, we will create an experimental space for collaborative learning, focusing on the healing properties of plants used by local and diasporic communities within the city.
Half traditional herb shop and half cabinet of curiosities, the "Las Yerbas” Apothecary showcased aesthetic and cultural contrasts between Indigenous medicinal knowledge and Western alchemical practices that arose from the fusion of exotic elements and substances sourced from other realms.
Through our research and pedagogical exercises in collective knowledge-building, we aimed to broaden the understanding of sacred plants and advocated for their mystical, political, and medicinal significance among New York City's local and diasporic communities.
About Liana Collective
At Liana, we are a multidisciplinary collective led by Colombian artists and social researchers: Angélica Cuevas (MA in Anthropology, The New School), Juan Pablo Caicedo (MA in Arts and Politics, NYU), and Giselly Mejía (MFA in Transdisciplinary Design, Parsons). Our collective explores the intricate relationships between humans and plants, as well as artistic practices rooted in medicinal and sacred plants.
Our mission is to broaden people’s understanding of plants as active entities with agency. Our work passionately advocates for the mystical, political, and medicinal significance of sacred plants, which continuously nurture and strengthen many diasporic and local communities.
During our residency, we will create an experimental space for collaborative learning, focusing on the healing properties of plants used by local and diasporic communities within the city.
Images: Alejandro Jaramillo and Angélica Cuevas
From left to right: Angélica Cuevas, Giselly Mejía and Juan Pablo Caicedo.
About Liana Collective
At Liana, we are a multidisciplinary collective led by Colombian artists and social researchers: Angélica Cuevas (MA in Anthropology, The New School), Juan Pablo Caicedo (MA in Arts and Politics, NYU), and Giselly Mejía (MFA in Transdisciplinary Design, Parsons). Our collective explores the intricate relationships between humans and plants, as well as artistic practices rooted in medicinal and sacred plants.
Our mission is to broaden people’s understanding of plants as active entities with agency. Our work passionately advocates for the mystical, political, and medicinal significance of sacred plants, which continuously nurture and strengthen many diasporic and local communities.
During our residency, we will create an experimental space for collaborative learning, focusing on the healing properties of plants used by local and diasporic communities within the city.
At Liana, we are a multidisciplinary collective led by Colombian artists and social researchers: Angélica Cuevas (MA in Anthropology, The New School), Juan Pablo Caicedo (MA in Arts and Politics, NYU), and Giselly Mejía (MFA in Transdisciplinary Design, Parsons). Our collective explores the intricate relationships between humans and plants, as well as artistic practices rooted in medicinal and sacred plants.
Our mission is to broaden people’s understanding of plants as active entities with agency. Our work passionately advocates for the mystical, political, and medicinal significance of sacred plants, which continuously nurture and strengthen many diasporic and local communities.
During our residency, we will create an experimental space for collaborative learning, focusing on the healing properties of plants used by local and diasporic communities within the city.
This residency involved a special collaboration with artist Tatiana Arocha who brought to the residency pieces from her installations Impending Beauty, 2017 and Decocainizing Coca: Challenging Western Narratives of a Sacred Plant, 2023.
