Publiek Park

In the summer of 2025, Publiek Park returns with the third edition of the nomadic contemporary art project, exploring urban parks and gardens as exhibition sites. This iteration invites visitors to travel through both time and space, as it evolves in two chapters – moving from Plantentuin Meise to Jardin Botanique de Bruxelles, from the current to the original site of the botanic garden, bringing together works by eleven international and local artists. The trail of eleven artistic interventions in Plantentuin Meise guides visitors through a spectrum of narratives: from gardens as architectural-administrative complexes that classify and contain nature, to reflections on plants as commodities within global trade networks. Along the way, it invites encounters with species’ co-evolution, imagined hybrid beings, and flora whose histories intertwine with personal stories of migration and colonialism. These works extend into imaginative narratives – drawing from medicinal, technological, and scientific knowledge, indigenous traditions, linguistic lapses, intimate memories and science fictions. With site-sensitivity as a guiding ethos, Publiek Park invites artists to engage with the specific textures of the public green spaces – their shifting ecologies, architectural traces, and layered histories. The project unfolds as a walking route through the residues of history into futures not yet mapped, from botanical research to reflections on contemporary life. While following the story of green spaces marked by a scientific institution, the artistic approaches lean into speculative modes of thinking, challenging the scientific imaginary that dominates the exhibition site. What the artists offer are off-routes and detours: departures from the ontological pathways laid out by the botanical garden. The exhibition is curated by Jef Declercq, Anna Laganovska, Koi Persyn and Adriënne van der Werf, assisted by Lana Jones, Alise Pētersone and Jean Watt. Publiek Park 2025 is created in collaboration with CC Strombeek, Plantentuin Meise, Wiels, Art Cinema OFFoff, TRACK, Level Five, LUCA School of Arts, 019 and others. The project is generously supported by the Flemish Government, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mondriaan Fonds, French Embassy in Belgium, Institut français, the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia (VKKF), Federal Ministry Republic of Austria (BMKÖS), Flemish Community Commission (VGC), Pro Helvetia, Servais Family Collection, Harlan Levey Projects, Gauli Zitter, Nesse and others.