The Giant Water Lily Victoria amazonica Blooms

In her two-evening performance The Giant Water Lily Victoria amazonica Blooms, artist Ingela Ihrman invites the audience to witness the nocturnal blooming of a giant water lily. Wearing an elaborately handcrafted plant costume, Ihrman embodies this spectacular aquatic plant, whose extraordinary biology and history form the starting point for a narrative about nature, colonialism and connectedness: Native to the tropical regions of South America, the giant water lily unfurls its gigantic bloom for just 48 hours, exuding an intense fragrance to attract beetles for pollination, and changes colour from white to pink within a matter of hours.

Taking this fascinating plant as its starting point, the performance also recounts its introduction to Europe in the 19th century, thereby highlighting the interconnections between botany, colonialism and the history of knowledge.

Ingela Ihrman’s ecofeminist works revolve around questions of coexistence and different forms of connectedness. She playfully explores identity, colonialism and belonging. The embodiment of the plant thus becomes a protective shell and a form of resistance, in which blossoming, sensuality and pleasure can be experienced as expressions of female agency.

On 4 September, the performance will be complemented by a short talk by Sarah Bürli, Director of the Botanical Garden at the University of Graz. Afterwards, we'll have drinks in the Needle.