manipulated, grafted, exported and imported plants. Throughout it all, plants have made us human. Plants have seduced us and colonized us. Plants have invaded our homes and have provided emotional reference points for our memories, grief and joy, along with food, medicine and materials.
In this project I collected data on how plants can contribute to the well-being of humans. I chose most ancient healing plants of Iceland and Cannabis Sativa L (Hemp) growing in Lithuania.
In the Icelandic Sagas there are numerous references to the use of Angelica archangelica, Arctic theme (Thymus praecox),Icelandic moss (Cetraria islandica) and Liberty caps (Psilocybe semilanceata).
Lithuanians are one of the oldest hemp growers in Europe, dating back before 800 AD. Lithuanian folk medicine recommended hemp for both internal and external use. According to the manuscripts, Lithuanians used hemp as a strong pain-killer, muscle relaxant, spasm treatment and anticonvulsant. Lithuanians believed that hemp could treat practically any disease.
This project will help you understand and think differently about certain plants, explore how we are connected on both micro and macro level, and how to relate this experience to your past and future lifestyle with plants.
The idea of remedies, tinctures, and teas coming from plants seems to be something from a fairy tale. Yet even today there are people who take pride and know the art of herbal medicine.
In this day and age, we are taught that medicines should be created in a lab by highly trained scientists and not in our kitchens as our ancestors did. By extension, there is a fear associated with herbal remedies due to the lack of scientific studies.
The project is a series of photographs that show the physical and metaphysical connection between plants and humans. Some photos are taken by a macro lens which gives the viewers a close-up view to macro space.
Herbal medicine is a great way to fight various illnesses without side effects caused by synthetic drugs. Collection of ancient herbal medicine recipes , stories about specific healing plants from folklore will guide people to experience plants in amore native way.
