Referencing the South London Botanical Institute's collections, botanical library & herbarium, GU Womxn produced a short publication which was framed by a research day at SLBI in July 2019. Taking the form of a 'flimsy' (a temporary holding folder for the specimens, made of archival paper material equivalent to a sheet of newsprint), the work is formed of individual and collective memories, thoughts and responses which link our experience at the SLBI with wider discussions around the complex practice of botany, its historical lineage and social impact. Contemplating ideas in relation to knowledge-making & feminist ethics of care, we have considered what we may adopt, question or resist from the herbarium. Echoing the interwoven & interdependent ecologies discussed within the work, the flimsy was distributed amongst Art Licks Weekend venues (DKUK, 4Cose, 1C Enterprise House & The Old Police Station), discreetly installed upon a bespoke structure which references the pressing mechanisms historically used in the herbarium.
GU Womxn (on this occassion Emily Hawes, Sophie Huckfield, Laura Onions, Larissa Shaw)
Small acts of care
Art Licks Festival 2019
Thanks to: Joseph Warin (graphic design), Fred Holdsworth (CNC design)
