Blooming Fields

Five flowering crops are the focus of this exhibition at Schloss Stainz: flax, potatoes, scarlet butter beans, pumpkins and corn. The exhibition ranges from the cultural history of these crops, their significance for the indigenous populations in their regions of origin, their appropriation by explorers and conquerors, through to their subsequent establishment in Europe.

Potatoes, scarlet butter beans, pumpkins and maize only arrived in Europe from the ‘New World’ after the discovery of America. Initially, they were cultivated mainly as ornamental plants in botanical gardens and princely gardens, later gaining importance as foodstuffs. Flax – the oldest cultivated plant in Central Europe – also indirectly provides the title for the exhibition: the expression ‘eine Fahrt ins Blaue’ (a trip into the blue) may originally have referred to travelling through extensive flax fields that were mostly blue-flowering.

Nowadays, agriculture finds itself facing challenges such as newly introduced pests and an increase in extreme weather events, the latter exacerbated not least by climate change. These aspects and other present-day issues are also addressed in the exhibition.