Gabriella Hirst is interested in gardening and breeding plants. Gardening is a conquest. But it is also connected to care. Gabriella Hirst has been building an archive of living and dead plants since 2014. For her installation, Gabriella Hirst uses around 200 different varieties of plants. They were all named after famous battles, conquered territories, generals or weapons. The archive helps us to realise: people give names to new plants they breed or discover. Important events in history influence what names they choose. This is how the names of plants reveal changes in history.
For the Kunsthalle Osnabrück’s courtyard, Gabriella Hirst has developed the installation Battlefield. Her installation combines military drills and historic garden designs. During drills, soldiers learn how to use weapons. The installation focuses on cultivated varieties of plants. They represent historical heritage and memory culture. The plant labels remind us of different events of violence. In this way, each flower becomes more meaningful. Visitors are encouraged to connect the plant names to historic events. And to reflect on current politics. After the exhibition has finished, the work will be displayed in a public space in Osnabrück.
You can also explore the garden online on the Battlefield website. There you will find information about the exhibition project, the garden and the individual plants. In this way, the garden will remain accessible to everyone even after the exhibition is over. HERE you can find the website.
The exhibition was curated by Anja Lückenkemper and Anna Voswinckel.
Gabriella Hirst (AU) lives and works in Berlin and London. She currently teaches as a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art, London. Her work is exhibited internationally, including at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (2021), Goethe Institut, London, CAC Vilnius (2020), or Focal Point Gallery, UK. She has received numerous awards and grants, including most recently the ACMI Ian Potter Moving Image Commission (2020). The exhibition at Kunsthalle Osnabrück will be the artist’s first institutional solo show in Germany.
The exhibition is kindly supported by Kulturstiftung des Bundes, Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien, Niedersächsische Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, VR Stiftung, Freund:innen der Kunsthalle Osnabrück, Gust – Florales, Grab und Garten and Ströer Innen- und Außengrün.