This is a cyclical and disseminated monument, not a monolithic one. It occurs every time and everywhere the seeds are planted. It multiplies and spreads every time the plant forms ears, and new seeds are gathered and gifted to others. To frame this relational process in terms of a monument, as if there existed a creator and a historical moment to commemorate, might seem contradictive. It is. I am not a creator, I am a seed disperser, who became part of an unfathomable relational web the moment I planted the seeds, wich were gifted to me by a friend in 2017.

A gift awaits response. A monument act as reminder. I gradually got to know the seeds through growing, and through following their path genetically, culturally, and historically. This is an ongoing process. They carry treasures, and embody knowledge practices and traditions that I have not inherited, as I am a white Swedish woman. Yet, I can still learn from them. They continue to sensitize me to biocultural riches, and reveal and decolonize my thinking patterns and habits. They remind me of the importance and power of sharing seeds and stories, of care and making kin, and of ongoing colonial violence. The plant that grew from the seeds have, to my own surprise, become an important teacher and companion.

Hence, from maize with love.

Seeds and stories have been shared in the following contexts:
Anthropomorphic Interfaces, Stockholm, 2019
Open Humanities Symposium: New Humanities and the Anthropocene, KTH, Stockholm´
Performing the Fringe, urban research hike, part of a curatorial project by Inga Lace and Jussi Koitela, in collaboration with Konsthall C, Stockholm, 2019
The Earth Market, Mossutställningar, Strömparterren, Stockholm, 2019
Walking festival of Sound, Stockholm Edition, 2019
The Kelp Congress, Lofoten International Art Festival (LIAF), Norway, 2019
Gnesta Art Lab, Gnesta, 2020
Four Sisters for the Planthropocene, with Malin Lobell, Malmö Art Museum, Malmö, 2021
And through lectures, artist talks, e-mail requests and friends (in Sweden, Estonia, Ireland, Netherlands, USA, Germany, UK).

Photo: Jacek Smolicki (top), Janna Holmstedt (bottom).