Dune Grass, الميرمية اللبنانية, Silver Bush Lupine, Redwood Violet, ფხიჯა, French Broom, Морская Горчица, Rattlesnake Grass, زَعْتَر, Scarlet Monkeyflower, California Milkwort, Fringed Willowherb, Coastal Gumplant, Sand Spurry, California Buckwheat, Расторопша Пятнистая, Зайчекольчик, Coastal Daisy, Yerba Buena, Checkerbloom, Rod Wirelettuce, طيون دبق, Upper Campus Isolepis, Tall Flatsedge-Сыть, Pink Honeysuckle, Илья Долгов, Redwood Sorrel, Tule, Birdcage Evening Primrose, Thimbleberry, Горчица, and others.

The plants you are meeting with grew from seeds gathered by Ilia Dolgov in California and by Dima Mabsout in Lebanon. They came from diverse habitats: oceanic beaches, coastal prairies, redwood forests, deserts, and urban wastelands. Some are native to Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe lands and other indigenous lands, others are not.

The plants you are meeting have lived over the past two years in MFA art studios the same way as you see it. They grow, bloom and fruit in a strange situation outside of their worlds. Ilia takes responsibility for that—for him it was a hope of a relation with an alien continent and its life. This possible connection is different from the intrinsic bond with plants of one’s homeland, known since childhood, like a family whom you know with your whole body before you learn their names. The relationship here—uprooted plants to uprooted humans—remains unresolved, never final.

You are invited to engage: smell, touch, listen, move with plants, or speak to them.

The garden includes a printed poem (take one) and an audio narration.

With Ilia’s departure this summer, the garden will dissolve. If you wish to adopt and care for a plant after the show, contact Ilia.

Join intimate experimental gatherings in the garden on April 12, 19, and 26 at 12 PM. Together, with the plants, we will explore:
— “Semi-cut, sub-alive”
— “Deepdreams”
— “What there will be for us across the border”