Archiving Eden: Exchange   

Archiving Eden: Exchange presents x-ray images of 5,000 seeds — the smallest number required to preserve a single plant species. Housed within a vault-like structure, the installation comes to life during seed exchange events, where visitors are invited to take home an image from the vault’s walls and replace it with a transparent envelope containing a single Canadian seed. Over time, the installation changes both physically and visually: from representational to actual, dark to light.

The seeds available for exchange are representative of common agricultural crops grown in Canada, including soy, corn and beans, as well as a variety of native wild plant species. The black-and-white x-rays lining the installation’s walls were captured by Doherty in collaboration with scientists at several international seed banks.

With Archiving Eden: Exchange, viewers are encouraged to examine their collective responsibility to care for the environment while reflecting on the monumental effort required to safeguard biodiversity. At the close of the exhibition, the 5,000 seeds will be donated to the Toronto Botanical Garden Seed Library — a collection of vegetable, herb and flower seeds that growers can borrow from and donate to.