The Forbidden Garden of Europe

The European legislative act from 2016 instated a list of 35 invasive plant species which are to be eradicated and banned from European soil. This means that these plants have been degraded to a minority that cannot be traded, imported, sold or grown within the borders of the European Union. Studio Wild wants to question this European legislation, provoking a discussion on whether spatial, legal and social restrictions contribute to a more inclusive society.

Studio Wild’s exhibition space at the Venice Biennale Architettura will host a garden of ‘invasive alien plant species’, which have been listed for their ethnic and biological characteristics and pose a threat to European native species. Their aim is to create a parallel between the fate of these species and the fate of many of our neighbors who struggle to find common ground in Europe just because they are different.

Studio Wild will enclose a garden in a cave like space. A forbidden garden with a secretive or hidden atmosphere in which these forbidden plants can live in a salvaged environment. Slim bundles of light illuminate individual species which grow on small hills. This organisation portrays a protective and monumental feel, strongly contrasting their current cultural and social environment depicted by exclusion.

The Forbidden Garden of Europe