Botanical Worlds: Plants and Seeds in Social Context
To celebrate 100 issues of The Newsletter, the International Institute for Asian Studies is organising a public afternoon symposium in the Oranjerie of the Hortus Botanicus Leiden, followed by a reception with live music.
This public gathering brings together four speakers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to discuss the circulation, collection, and curation of plants across spatial and historical contexts. The conversation will be followed by an informal reception with refreshments and live music. We hope to see you there!
Attendance is free of charge, but registration is required because seating is limited. If we reach maximum capacity, we will create a waiting list. We will inform you if you are placed on the waiting list. Registration will close on Monday, 29 September 2025, 17:00 p.m. Amsterdam Time (CEST).
Symposium Speakers
Dr Roderick Bouman
Plants on the move, 19th century global plant exchanges of the Leiden botanical garden
Botanical gardens have been playing a significant role in the global transportation and introduction of plants. In the 19th century, the Hortus of Leiden almost tripled in size. During this time period, new plants were brough in through connections to Buitenzorg (now Bogor in Java, Indonesia), Japan and other botanical gardens. In this talk, we will dive into the history of these exchanges, the worldwide contacts of our garden and their botanical legacies.
Roderick Bouman works at the Hortus botanicus Leiden as scientific collection manager with a focus on plant evolution and botanical history.
Evie Evans, MA
Cultivating Colonialism: Plants and Seeds as Ethnographic Objects
In 2020, Framer Framed hosted the exhibition, On the Nature of Botanical Gardens curated by Sadiah Boonstra. The contemporary Indonesian artists of the show look critically at botanical gardens, colonial power, knowledge building and the economics of nature, its legacies and current consequences of approaching nature and plants. Boonstra’s research into decolonising the concept of nature and their role in building a Dutch colonial empire in Indonesia inspired my 2021 thesis, Cultivating Colonialism, drawing a connection between the colonial history of museums and gardens and their contemporary display.
Evie Evans is a writer and researcher from the UK. She graduated cum laude in Museum Studies from the University of Amsterdam in 2021.
Dr Caroline Fernandes Caromano
Faraway seeds to embellish Amazonian bodies
Body ornaments construct indigenous bodies and guide movements. Their manufacture involves expeditions to collect and exchange seeds. Due to contact with colonization fronts, artefacts also tell stories of plants introduced in global systems of colonial exploitation. The widespread presence of Coix lacryma-jobi in ornaments is a testament to the impact of colonization and the introduction and adoption of exotic species by indigenous peoples in the Amazon, including them into their aesthetic and artefactual repertoire.
Caroline Fernandes Caromano is a postdoctoral researcher (LUCAS-Leiden University and Naturalis Biodiversity Center), studying Amazonian ethnographic and natural history collections.
Prof. Winder Chang
The Social Diversity of Chinese Herbs
Chinese herbs, most of us immediately picture medicine—formulas, prescriptions, and treatments from traditional Chinese medicine. But in fact, herbs are far more than just medicine. In Taiwan, they are part of our food, our festivals, our daily habits, and even our identities. Herbs also travel and cross the borders. Some herbs became global commodities through the Maritime Silk Road, even marketed in the West as “superfoods” with the meaning of “wellness” elsewhere.
Winder Wen-Te Chang is a Professor in the Department of Chinese Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chinese Medicine Resources at the College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University in Taiwan. He also serves as Deputy Curator of the Lifu Museum of Chinese Medicine. At present, he is the Chair of Taiwan Studies at Leiden University and IIAS.
Reception
Following the symposium, all guests are invited to continue the conversation over drinks and snacks. The reception will also feature a live performance by Zheng Sun, a Netherlands-based erhu player who has collaborated with performers from around the world.
Registration
Attendance is free of charge, but registration is required because seating is limited. If we reach maximum capacity, we will create a waiting list. We will inform you if you are placed on the waiting list. Registration will close on Monday 29 September 2025, 17:00 p.m. Amsterdam Time (CEST).
Please use the web form on this page to register.
The Newsletter
The Newsletter is IIAS’ flagship publication on Asian studies with contributions from around the world. It has been an integral part of the International Institute for Asian Studies since its inaugural issue in 1993, the same year IIAS was established. Over three decades later, we are celebrating the 100th issue of the publication.
You are welcome to take out a free digital or print subscription!
