Artists, botanists and philosophers contemplate the world of trees with the exhibition “Nous Les Arbres,” at the Fondation Cartier Pour l”Art Contemporain through drawings, paintings, films and installations. It includes a diverse array of work from internationally recognized artists, such as photographer-filmmaker Raymond Depardon to indigenous Yanomami Amerindians living in northern Brazil depicting the trees they use for food, medicine and shamanic rituals (to January 5, 2020)
The exhibition touches on various themes from how humans and trees interact to what German forester and author Peter Wohlleben called the “hidden life of trees.” Plant intelligence, for example, is considered with the installation “Symbiosia” where a dozen sensors, placed on a Chestnut tree, reveal the tree’s reaction to the environment and pollution in real time, as well as the phenomenon of photosynthesis, root communication and the idea of plat memory.
Threats to trees and environmental sustainability is depicted with an excerpt from the multimedia installation “Exit” (originally seen at the COP21 climate conference) graphically illustrating the massive deforestation of three tropical forest regions (Brazil, Cameroon and Indonesia) in parallel with the disappearance of cultures and languages around the world
“Nous Les Arbres,” to January 5, 2020. Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, 281, Bd. Raspail, Paris, 75014