In collaboration with the University of Zurich, We Are AIA presents Botanical Memories: A Performance Series at the Botanical Garden Zurich. Taking place in the summer of 2025, this artistic program features performances, workshops, and lectures exploring both ancient and evolving knowledge of medicinal plants.

Set against the backdrop of the Botanical Garden, the series addresses the loss of traditional medicinal plant knowledge. The site's historical context fosters a dialogue on healing practices beyond Western medicine. The events will look at personal and collective relationships with plants and healing techniques, accessibility to nature, histories of migrations within human and more-than-human, and beyond.

Transplant: Healing in the Mapuche Diaspora
Saturday, July 12, 2025 / 6:00 PM / 30 minutes
New Botanical Garden, Zollikerstrasse 107, 8008 Zürich

The Pewen is a sacred tree in Mapuche culture. The performance Transplant: Healing in the Mapuche Diaspora through the Pewen looks to establish a reciprocal healing process with the tree, rooted in the shared experience of both artist and tree, both inhabiting land that is not their place of origin. In their state of diaspora, they aim to create a shared imaginary and spiritual space. Through the artist’s voice, research into sounds from Mapuche territory, traditional jewelry, imagined soundscapes, and gentle touch and interaction between the artist and the Pewen, the performance seeks to create a sensitive and emotive atmosphere.
Neyen Pailamilla (CL) is a queer Mapuche artist working with performance, textile practices, and audiovisual formats. Drawing inspiration from their Mapuche identity, they use it as a basis to reflect both personal and contextual themes. Pailamillais an Eyebeam Democracy Machine Scholarship fellow and has been invited to artist residencies in Germany and Sweden (IASPIS). Their work is part of several collections, including the Ludwig Museum in Cologne (Germany) and the National Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago de Chile. Pailamilla lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland.

Credit: Neyen Pailamilla, Transplant, 2025, Zürich