Art Alert: Talk and book launch on the migration of plants at Cairo's Townhouse gallery
Ahram Online, Wednesday 2 Nov 2016
Held at the Townhouse Gallery, the evening will include a talk by Hala Barakat, a photo book by Bryonne Dunne who will also present her exhibition


Cairo's Townhouse Gallery will host a talk by Archaeobotanist Hala Barakat titled How Plants Travel, alongside the release of a photo book by artist Bryone Dunne titled 'Seeds From the Zoo,' to be held on 6 November.

Barakat's talk complements Dunne's current exhibition at Townhouse 'They usually Lie in the Grotto,' which explores seeds of trees and plants, and their migration through works that merge documentary and fiction. Part of the exhibition is a video that includes archival footage of the Suez Canal, as the artist looks into how it historically facilitated the transport of plants, as well as footage from botanical gardens from different countries.

In her talk, Barakat will trace the movement of plants across time and space, according to the event description on Facebook.

She will present the ways in which plants have travelled, and have been brought to Egypt in particular, manually, or through natural causes. Looking at the different uses of these plants across history, touching upon private collections and the botanical gardens where many imported plants are kept, and the concept of a Herbarium, focusing on the chief one currently within Cairo University.

Dunne will present a short introduction to her exhibition and will be available for questions and a discussion.

Barakat holds a Ph.D in Paleoecology from the French University of Aix-Marseille III. She is a founding member and former president of Nature ConservationEgypt (NCE), the profit organization working on theconservation of endangered species and habitats and raising awareness toenvironmental issues.

Between 1995 and 2000 she lectured at Cairo University, and went on to become deputydirector at the Center for Documentation of Cultural and NaturalHeritage (CULTNAT), and managed the documentation of the center's natural heritage program until 2012. Barakat was then a part time researcher on the topics of “Right to Food” and “Food Sovereignty” in Egypt at the Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) which she joined in 2013.

Programme:
Sunday 6 November, 7pm
Factory Space, Townhouse Gallery, 10 Nabarawy street, Downtown, Cairo

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at@AhramOnlineArtsand on Facebook atAhram Online: Arts & Culture

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/247096.aspx