Botanical Garden Halle: Recording systems and the privatisation of resources

The Botanical Garden in Halle originated when the university was founded in 1698 as one of the first gardens of its kind in Brandenburg. It is today still located at its original site and comprises around 12.000 plants cultivated along the lines of Carl von Linné's systematic of a binary nomenclature: they are planted according to genus and species, ‹typical representatives› of various families of plants are cultivated in separate beds under systematic aspects. Apart from the actual gardens, the Botanical Garden possesses a large herbarium in which valuable and in part already extinct plants from all over the world are documented and stored.

The excursion gives insights into the history of botany and the practice of systematising and archiving nature which is closely linked with colonialism, and describes a curve to the current debates on biotechnology, bioprospection and the patenting of plants and seeds.

Invited participants are: Eva Bremer, curator of the seed section and gardener, Botanical Garden Halle, Ulrich Brand, scientific adviser of attac Germany, hybrid video tracks, a Berlin-based group of cultural producers