New Perspectives

How like a leaf I am examines entanglements of human and plant life and our collective responsibility for the rapid decline of ecosystems. By investigating agrobiodiversity management, from research on soil and farming initiatives to community-based seed conservation, the project seeks out practices that account for cultural values and traditional knowledge. Laid out as an ongoing research project How like a leaf I am collects stories from people who are building niches and thriving for a comprehensive understanding of our environment.

The project advocates for the need to (re)learn how to read and live with our non-human environments. Arguing that only a deep bond will enable people’s behaviors to shift. The importance of this emotional connection with the land is emphasised by a layer of text setting out numbered instructions ranging in ease from ‘2. Find a spot you like, sit down for a while.’ to ‘7. Imagine being a leaf’. These worksheet-style instructions encourage spectators to not only engage with the work, but use it as a catalyst to immerse themselves in the world around them.

How like a leaf I am embraces complexity and locates issues of agrobiodiversity-loss in the centre of our society.