In the footsteps of absent plants — Walk in the Garden with Gabriela Piwar

A walk through the Botanical Garden of the University of Warsaw is part of the project Gabriela Piwar Herbarium of absent plants. The starting point will be species that are not in the garden collection and stories associated with their lack. Some of them are difficult to grow in local conditions, others require special care or simply did not fit into this small historical botanical garden.

During the meeting, we will look at what may be left of a plant that is not there — we will find similar shapes, textures, habitat conditions and other details of the environment. Photographic herbarium cards of the artist and fragments of her field diary, kept from the perspective of imaginary encounters with absent species, will help us in this.

It is an opportunity to look at the Garden not only as a collection of collected specimens, but also as a place whose boundaries are defined by different stories, decisions and possibilities.

Place of collection: cash register no. 1 (from the courtyard of the Garden).
Meeting in Polish.
Participation on the basis of the entrance ticket to the Garden.

The event takes place as part of the Plant Talks 2026 Artistic Residence organized by the UW Botanical Garden in cooperation with the Ujazdowski Castle Center for Contemporary Art. The project is co-financed by the City of Warsaw.