Plants in Times of War - Anne Meneley - Jensen Memorial Lecture 2026 (4/4)

Ad.E.Jensen-Gedächtnisvorlesung How to Do Things with Plants: Easy and Uneasy Collaborations with Plants Anne Meneley 1. Greening the City: Plants, Gardens and Imaginaries of Statehood in Singapore 2. Highlighting the Human Hand in Planting: Gardens by the Bay 3. The Politics and Aesthetics of Georgian Gardens 4. Plants in Times of War: Examples from the Middle East In these four papers, I explore how to do things with plants. While human agency is key here, I also explore planty agency as plants often do not conform to human desires to impose their will on the plants and the places where they grow. The theme of movement -- of plants, seeds, peoples, and infrastructures -- runs throughout this set of papers. The first paper begins with the impact of the British colonial encounter in Singapore, destroying existing vegetation to plant new, foreign crops with the aim of extracting profit. I investigate how the British legacy is enshrined in public facing histories in the parks themselves, particularly the Singapore Botanic Gardens and Fort Canning Park. I also address the way gardens and plants continued to play a central role in Singapore’s imaginings of itself as a “Garden City” when it became an independent state in 1965. While all gardens are made with human intervention, some effectively hide the human hands in favour of celebrating the natural aspects of the gardens. In contrast, Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay, constructed on manufactured land, highlights the human hand more theatrically than many gardens, especially its Supertrees, which have changed both the Singaporean skyline and coastline. Mimicking the epiphyte style of many Singaporean trees, they announce technological intervention in plant life in a way that is proudly showy and to some, almost Disneyfied. The third paper highlights a common theme throughout the papers: who are gardens intended for and how are they constructed. As in Singapore, gardens in the contemporary Republic of Georgia cannot be extricated from local and national politics. Even those not officially of the current government in Georgia, shadowy oligarchs behind the scenes, shape the plant possibilities, in ways that are not considerate of plants or people. My final paper will explore how plants and their human carers deal with war and the materiality of its damaging consequences for people, but also on soil, trees and plants. Using examples from Palestine, South Lebanon and Syria, I explore the intertwining of plant and human agency amid tear gas and landmines, demonstrating resistance and tenacity in difficult times. 08. Juni (Raum 1.801 Casinogebäude): Greening the City: Plants, Gardens and Imaginaries of Statehood in Singapore 15. Juni (Raum 1.801 Casinogebäude): Highlighting the Human Hand in Planting: Gardens by the Bay 22. Juni (Raum 1.812 Casinogebäude): The Politics and Aesthetics of Georgian Gardens 29. Juni (Raum 1.801 Casinogebäude): Plants in Times of War: Examples from the Middle East Jeweils montags - 16.15 bis 17.45 Uhr