Slavs and Tatars, Dunjas, Donyas, Dinias, 2012, fibreglass, steel, 52 × 30 × 25 cm. The estimated cost of eradication of this “weed” around the globe has exceeded £1.8 trillion ( Cooking Sections “Empire Remains Shop” 2018). Thank you Maja Fowkes, Reuben Fowkes, Borbala Soos, and Michael Smythe for the curation and eye-opening chats.īy the way, the knotweed was originally smuggled out of Japan from the island of Dejima in the late Edo-period Japan by the German physicist Philipp Siebold to the Netherlands, sent to the Kew Garden in London and then spread out across Europe and the North America (Tsing, In., Line Marie Thorsen ed., “Moving Plants” 2017). Great conversations with fellow speakers and audiences☺️It’s always rewarding when everyone - including myself of course - gets to go home feeling excited with new understandings of the world. Why do distinctions made between native and invasive plant species often mirror, evoke or amplify hostile attitudes to human migrants? Can we move beyond the human-centered symbolism in speaking of moving plants? The “invasive plant” Japanese knotweed cocktail made for the occasion of “The Globalization of Plants” panel discussion at Tenderpixel last night.