Stefano Mancuso and Mikolaj Sekutowicz at the Nation of Plants exhibition in Doha
Leading neurobiologist and professor at the University of Florence, Stefano Mancuso, presents his exhibition The Nation of Plants at the Doha Expo in Qatar. In collaboration with Red Joint Films and Balich Wonder Studio, the exhibition presents solutions for a better future. CEO of Impact One, Mikolaj Sekutowicz, visited the exhibition, guided by Stefano Mancuso himself.
Among his many scientific achievements, Mancuso has demonstrated the crucial impact that plants have, not only on planetary health, but also on our own cognitive skills and healing processes. Plants represent the oldest and most advanced life form that has ever existed. They have continued to support and sustain the lives of all other species.
Room 1: Immerse yourself in the green desert
Room 3: Plant Blindness
With a biomass of 82% of the earth’s total and a futuristic system of communication blended with the ability to survive global warming, plants today represent the oldest and most advanced life form that has ever existed. Plants constitute the engine of life on Earth. The exhibition is a guided exploration through eight immersive rooms, providing visitors the opportunity to play witness to the intelligence of plants, gain understanding of their capacity to learn and communicate, and uncover a new perspective on what the world of plants has to offer. Assigning new value to the plant world, the exhibition presents plants as a real nation with a flag, a constitution, and rights. Visitors listen to the plants through animated stories with historical photos and speeches, retracing the steps of the global significance of this unique nation. By the end of the journey, it is clear that establishing a coexistence and collaboration between humans and plants is essential to the health of the planet.
On display as part of the Doha Expo 2023, where the central theme is ‘Green desert, better environment’, The Nation of Plants features installations, projections, interactions and artworks based on Mancuso’s works. Specific areas of the exhibition are designed to tell the story of the culture and the wildlife of the host country.
Each room serves a particular purpose, among them a room dedicated to the exploration of plants’ structural and functional complexity; an interactive room about plant neurobiology to discover the senses, behaviours, tricks and symbiosis with other living beings of plants; and the ‘Plant Blindness’ room designed to alter our perspective and uncover why human beings often fail to recognise plants.
Mancuso first introduced us to the concept of Plant Blindness in the Wellbeing Culture Forum Resurrecting the Sublime held at the Venice
Architecture Biennale in 2021, which also featured environmental and indigenous rights activist Nina Gualinga and new media artist Refik Anadol. A guiding force in the development of Impact One’s nature-positive approach and in learning more about all that plants have to teach us, Mancuso has continued to showcase all that plants have to offer and learn from. This includes how we can better harness energy from the sun, depollute our planet, recognise connections between humans and nature, and discover how this knowledge can serve as a guideline for planning and creating future cities.
The ‘Free Future Cities’ workshop led by Mancuso at Bauer Palladio during the 2018 Venice Biennale, delved deeper into the establishing and recognising connections between humans and nature, exploring whether and how this knowledge can serve as a guideline for planning and creating future cities.
“We must reimagine our urban spaces to seamlessly integrate nature,
particularly plants. This goes beyond simply placing plants in parks, along
roads, and in gardens. I mean a new town where everything is under the
plants, both outdoors and indoors. Have you ever wondered why there are
no plants indoors, why in our hospitals, in our schools, in our offices, there
are no plants?” – Stefano Mancuso
The Nation of Plants helps us see plants through new eyes and hear their
powerful message to the world, recognising, as declared by Mancuso, that “it’s impossible to imagine a form of life without plants.”
Nation of Plants by Stefano Mancuso at Doha Expo
Visiting Nation of Plants Exhibition By Stefano Mancuso
The leading neurobiologist and creator of PNAT assigns new value to the plant world and presents solutions for a better future at his latest exhibition.
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