Maria Thereza Alves's Seeds of Change exhibition at Galerie Michel Rein explores colonial history through ballast flora

At Galerie Michel Rein in Paris, Maria Thereza Alves presents her exhibition Seeds of Change: New York – A Botany of Colonization, showcasing 22 paintings, texts, and maps that investigate the migration of plants through the dumping of ballast during colonial times. This project, initiated by the Berlin-based Brazilian artist in 1999, focuses on how merchant vessels released ballast soil at various foreign ports, enabling exotic flora to flourish. The current exhibition emphasizes New York, where ballast soil is found beneath areas stretching from Brooklyn to the Bronx. Featured works include Traces from the Past: Some Ballast Material and Flora and the Ballast Indicators series. The exhibition is open from 10 February to 31 March 2018, following earlier showings in European ports and at The New School in New York in November 2017.