Plant Stories | Andrea Goetzke, Andrea Acosta & Interspecifics

PLANT STORIES is a current summer programme, running from June - October at ZK/U. This radio show accompanies, documents, and reflects themes and activities in the series, and shares related sounds. PLANT STORIES examines human relations to/with plants, why these are political, and in which ways they could be different.

This episode brings two works in resonance that use speculative fiction and poetry to imagine both past and possibilities of plants and plant relations, as well ecological and social possibilities. We talk with Andrea Acosta about her and Ece Eldek's installation „Mourning Flora“, that is on view this summer in Moabiter Stadtgarten, as part of PLANT STORIES. And we will talk about the collective speculative fiction writing project „The Book of Transmutations“, of which „Chapter 4: The Intelligence of Plants“ will be transformed into a performance that will be staged as part of PLANT STORIES on 22 August 2025 at ZK/U.

„Mourning Flora“ explores the notion of ghost species: plants that have disappeared or are on the brink of extinction, yet linger in memory, myth, or trace. How might we remember—or even summon—it through the act of naming and storytelling?

„The Intelligence of Plants“ reimagines the human relationship with plants and the natural world through alternative futures storytelling; it brought together diverse research approaches, generative, AI-assisted technologies and a writing process framework rooted in Latin American futurism. Drawing from an untold history and a collection of contemporary myths, it envisions new ecological and social possibilities while reclaiming imagination as a critical tool for decolonial speculation and ontological experimentation.

Images Credits: Stefanie Kulisch & Interspecifics