Telling plant stories: agency of botanicals in Cambridge's collections

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• Kimberley Glassman (Fitzwilliam Museum)
• Monday 09 March 2026, 13:00-14:00
• Seminar Room 1, Department of History and Philosophy of Science.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact ma2019.

We often write histories from the perspective of humans and, as such, create connections through institutional collections from this purview. However, instead of creating links through people, what would happen if we initiated a search tethered to and centred around the plant? In this presentation, I situate the botanical species as the nucleic instigator of meaning-making within Cambridge’s collections. From botanical art at the Fitzwilliam Museum to living and preserved specimens at the Cambridge Botanic Garden and Herbarium, I follow the story of one plant to exercise its agency within these collection networks: namely, the Amaryllis belladonna L.

This talk is part of the Cabinet of Natural History series.

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