Reciprocity: On the Co-Evolution of Seeds, Plants, and People
5:30 pm
Museum Lobby
Cultivating seeds is an ancient cultural practice based on the reciprocal relations between humans, plants, and the land. Yet how exactly does this reciprocity work? Natalie Mueller, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences, will speak on the co-evolutionary relationship between humans and plants with a focus on Indigenous North American worldviews in which particular plants are conceived of as kin, with associated expectations of mutual care. Following the talk, Mueller and Meredith Malone, curator, will discuss how selected artworks in the exhibition Seeds: Containers of a World to Come illuminate such reciprocity.
Free and open to the public.
Support
This event is supported in part by Washington University’s Center for the Environment.