CIDADE JARDIM, 2024

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In Cidade-Jardim, satin ties, leather bags, high heels, a microphone, a military band and children with their heads bowed are supporting actors in a series of public events dedicated to planting tree seedlings. Over decades, a certain image of various heads of state – including a certain prince visiting Brazil – has been disseminated in national newspapers and preserved in public archives. Such solemnity betrays unfamiliarity with the action and with the tree individuals themselves, generically referred to as “trees”. In contrast to the recurrence of these symbolic acts, hundreds of them are unceremoniously sacrificed for the sake of roads, events, and other urban projects. By identifying plant life and calling them by name, we draw closer to their histories, their territory, and a society permeated by a tropical imagination.