Life Force of Plants – arts in conversation

Join us on at Exhibition Research Lab for a conversation between Joy Gregory and Christine Eyene, followed by a restitution of multidisciplinary artist Kuamen’s ERL research residency with Sandrine Nganga.

Taking its cue from Joy Gregory’s series The Invisible Life Force of Plants (2020) exhibited in “What the Mountain Has Seen” curated by Eyene, the conversation will introduce the audience to Gregory’s experimental photography and printing practice, her research into Britain’s economic botany in the 17th-19th centuries, and the migration of plants. It will also explore the topics and aesthetics represented in her work which is currently the subject of a major retrospective at Whitechapel Gallery in London.

The plant narratives and themes of vegetal, mineral, and cultural extraction addressed in the exhibition will be expanded to material production through the symbolism of African masks originally carved from the trees of dense central African forests.

Kuamen, Eyene, and Nganga will approach the mask as a creation imbued with spirituality, cultural traditions, and history. They will discuss the artist’s research into new processes of mask-making, the collaboration with LJMU’s Fashion and 3D Lab (Fab Lab) to create a prototype and its symbolism in the context of Liverpool’s Black diasporic experience.

This event closes the exhibition “What the Mountain Has Seen” that will give way to a hybrid display of Kuamen’s prototype mask from 20 November to 19 December 2025.

Free event, open to all. Book your free ticket here.

Supported by LJMU’s Enhancing Research Culture Grant.

For more information visit: www.exhibition-research-lab.co.uk/events/arts-in-conversation.

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