Transplanting

Transplanting is a video performance film looking at the connection between the movement of plants and bodies within the contemporary post-colonial context. Set in Lisbon’s botanical garden and urban gardens built by African migrant communities, the film reflects on colonial exploitation and displacement. It begins with the botanic garden, representing the forced transplantation of plants and diasporic bodies due to colonialism. The narrative then transitions to the forest, a historical refuge for revolutionaries and marginalized individuals, a space for resistance and revolution, away from the impositions of colonial powers. Finally, the film culminates in urban gardens, which mirror the Creole Gardens as spaces of cultural resistance and belonging for migrant and diasporic bodies. Transplanting intricately weaves the interconnected histories of humans and nature, highlighting their shared experiences of displacement and adaptation.