Tulip Mania II will be presented by Kumi Hiroi at the Orangerie, zone2source from 8 September to 13 October 2024. Tulip Mania II explores what drives tulip bulb production and visualises the relationship humans and plants can build.
The project is a continuation of her previous work, Tulip Mania. For the project, she investigated whether the beauty and emotions of flowers can justify the environmental problems they cause. Inspired by the tulip mania, one of the first speculative market bubbles of the 17th century, Hiroi conducted research in Japan and the Netherlands. She connected individual stories with the history of the tulip industry in both counties and created Tulip Mania. This work consists of colorful textile pieces, written stories, photographs and glass sculptures. The work reveals the complexity of the relationship between humans and tulips in our society and how greed can have disastrous consequences for the climate and our habitat.
For Tulip Mania II, Hiroi will research and film seasonal workers in the Netherlands and Poland, showing how they live and work.
The public programme will take place in collaboration with Giulia Bongiornoat, soil biologist at Wageningen University & Research to exchange knowledge on soil biology with the general public.
de Orangerie
