The Giant Water Lily Victoria amazonica Blooms, 2012

2-evening performance with giant water lily costume (textile, white glue, wheat flour, golf pegs, wash, gelatin, plastic foam, waders, tape, carbon fibre) female host, pineapple fragrance, pink posters

The Giant Water Lily Victoria amazonica Blooms invites people to experience the nightly bloom of the giant water lily, native to tropical South America. A female host tells the audience about how the plant was brought to Europe by explorers in the 1800s and its special reproduction procedure including a strong fragrance to attract beetles and a shift of color from white to pink.

The performance premiered June 8-9, 2012 in a municipal green house in Kalmar, the town where I grew up, with the gardener Cecilia Kilbride as host.

Later performances include Percival Space, Oslo with artist and gardener Jana Fröberg (November 1-2, 2012), Galleri Gerlesborg with local farmer Ing-Marie Christenssen (January 9-10, 2013), Art Lab Gnesta with gardener Monika Vlasak (May 11-12, 2013) and at Stockholm Music & Arts Festival, with Gunvor Larsson from Bergianska trädgården (August 3-4, 2013).

Camera and editing: Malin Franzén