Whitewashed Botany

707 Tiverton Drive,Los Angeles CA 90095

22 October, 2021

Description

Join Alexandria Douziech, founder of the Center for Plants & Culture, as she discusses botany’s “whitewashed” and exploitative legacy. Welcome to the UCLA Mathias Botanical Garden's 2021-2022 public lecture series, Transplanted: Examining Contexts of Plants, People, & Place. Join Alexandria Douziech, founder of the Center for Plants & Culture, as she discusses botany’s “whitewashed” and exploitative legacy. In tandem with an upcoming exhibit in the La Kretz Garden Pavilion, this talk will focus on colonial injustices often excluded from plant displays: the forgotten figures of natural history, the cultural erasure of specimen collecting, and how plant commercialization benefited a select few. Attendees will also be encouraged to imagine a “decolonized” future for botanical spaces. Center For Plants & Culture: Website / Instagram / Twitter COVID-19 Information Our space is well ventilated and the glass walls of the La Kretz Garden Pavilion will be open to further increase air circulation. Out of an abundance of caution, we ask that all attendees wear a mask during this event and to bring proof of vaccination with them. We are planning to record this event as well to make it available virtually after the event—details to follow. RSVP / Tickets This event is free, but seating is limited—RSVP required to reserve a seat. Plan Your Visit & Parking Check our website for more information on planning your visit and parking. The Botanical Garden closes at 5pm, so come early to walk around and explore! Alexandria Douziech is a research-based installation artist, educator, and founder of the Center for Plants & Culture. Drawing inspiration from her parentage—her mother was born on a sugarcane plantation in Guyana and her father was raised on a farm in Alberta, Canada—Alexandria’s artwork centers on nature, exploitation, and labor. Since receiving her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Alexandria has worked in education departments across various museums in Los Angeles, including the California African American Museum (CAAM), the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), and the Underground Museum. Most recently, she founded the Center for Plants & Culture, a BIPOC educational platform dedicated to exploring what plants reveal about society—where we’ve been and where we’re going.