Gardening as a Freedom-Making Practice

Gardening as a Freedom-Making Practice. .

On the shores of our present, we are met by the waves of our past. Many disasters of our world, racism, resource extraction, poverty, emerged from slavery and colonialism. But so do the seeds of hope, sown by historic freedom fighters. , Exhibition Introduction, In Slavery's Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World

, The plants in this garden originate from Africa. Many are tied to the histories of slavery and the forced removal of enslaved Africans to the Americas. They hold stories of displacement and loss, but also resistance and survival., Across oceans and generations, enslaved people and their descendants drew on ancestral knowledges and agricultural expertise to sustain communities. Some plants like okra, Abelmoschus esculentus, were carried on ships and later cultivated on garden plots. Others, rice, Oryza glaberrima, were planted on plantations but also in forest settlements by those who escaped slavery for ritual and nourishment. Still others, Egyptian star cluster, Pentas lanceolata, adorn our yards today., These plants, and most importantly, the people who cared for them, embody a legacy of resilience, creativity, and strength., In Slavery's Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World, is an international, collaboratively curated project that immerses visitors in the freedom-making practices of Black communities that are navigating the histories and the legacies of racial slavery and colonialism.