Seeing the Invisible coming to Kirstenbosch

Seeing the Invisible is an unprecedented Augmented Reality Exhibition to premiere at Kirstenbosch in September 2021 as one of 12 participating gardens across six countries!

Renowned as the most beautiful botanical garden in Africa – Kirstenbosch will become the backdrop to the most expansive exhibition to date of contemporary artworks created with augmented reality (AR) technology.

Opening simultaneously in Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States and featuring Augmented Reality (AR) works by artists including Ai Weiwei, Refik Anadol, El Anatsui, Isaac Julien CBE, Mohammed Kazem, Sigalit Landau, Sarah Meyohas, Pamela Rosenkranz and Timur Si-Qin. Seeing the Invisible will include several artists’ first work in AR. Among the artists is El Anatsui, a Ghanaian sculptor, who is one of the most highly acclaimed artists in African history and foremost contemporary artists in the world.

Visitors will engage with Seeing the Invisible via an app designed for the exhibition downloadable to smartphones and tablets. Forging new links between botanical gardens located in diverse biomes around the globe, the exhibition fosters collaboration between institutions, artists, and audiences, highlighting the power of art to connect people around the world.

The first exhibition of its kind to be developed as a collaboration among botanical gardens around the world, Seeing the Invisible was initiated by the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens and Outset Contemporary Art Fund, and is co-curated by Hadas Maor and Tal Michael Haring.

Seeing the Invisible will simultaneously premiere at:
• Denver Botanic Gardens (Denver, Colorado, USA)
• Eden Project (Cornwall, England)
• Jerusalem Botanical Gardens (Jerusalem, Israel)
• Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden (Cape Town, South Africa)
• Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (Sarasota, Florida, USA)
• Massachusetts Horticultural Society (Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA)
• Royal Botanical Gardens (Ontario, Canada)
• Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (Edinburgh, Scotland)
• Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Cranbourne Gardens (Cranbourne, Australia)
• Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne Gardens (Melbourne, Australia)
• San Diego Botanic Garden (San Diego, California, USA)
• Tucson Botanical Gardens (Tucson, Arizona, USA)

Seeing the Invisible will place the same exhibition of commissioned artworks in analogous sites in 12 outdoor garden settings located in different biomes all around the world, creating parallels and contrasts between them. For example, the same work might be set within the historical tree lane of the Kirstenbosch Camphor Avenue; a group of tall Saguaro cacti in Tucson and among a lush forest of giant redwoods in Edinburgh. The AR nature of the exhibition allows for the creation of expansive, immersive works that engage with existing features of the natural landscape beyond the limitations of what is possible with physical artworks. Many of the works created for the exhibition will address related themes around nature, environment, sustainability, and explore the interplay of the physical world with the digital one.

Werner Voigt, Kirstenbosch Curator said, “it’s an honour for Kirstenbosch to be included in the Seeing the Invisible global exhibition, it will be a first of its kind in a SANBI National Botanical Garden. We’re also pleased that it is an environmentally friendly exhibition, it will require no artworks to be shipped; no electronic hardware or structures to be set up in the garden – resulting in no disruption to the garden and no wastage of materials.”

“Seeing the Invisible was born out of a collaboration during the pandemic with the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens that opened our eyes to the incredible opportunities for creating an entirely new kind of contemporary art experience within the setting of a botanical garden,” said Outset Contemporary Art Fund Co-Founder Candida Gertler OBE and Outset Contemporary Art Fund Israel Director Mirav Katri. “We are thrilled to be partnering with exceptional gardens from all across the world on this exhibition bridging the physical and digital worlds to create a new phygital model, bringing their expert knowledge of their field together with the most cutting-edge technology in contemporary art to develop a new exhibition format beyond the typical museum or gallery space.”

WHEN: September 2021 – August 2022 at a time to suit you
WHERE: via an app downloadable to smartphones and tablets. #StayHomeStayConnected
INFO: Please follow Kirstenbosch on Social Media:
Facebook: @KirstenboschNBG | Twitter: @KirstenboschNBG | Instagram: @Kirstenbosch_NBG | TikTok: @KirstenboschNBG | #SeeingTheInvisible

See also Cape Town Green Map