Plants and trees in urban landscapes João Miguel Diógenes de Araújo Lima Ocupadeiras make us believe <strong>the</strong>re is a nonhuman way of activism, silently engaged by plants. 84 <strong>Mapping</strong> <strong>Meaning</strong>, <strong>the</strong> <strong>Journal</strong>
Plants and trees in urban landscapes João Miguel Diógenes de Araújo Lima critique enables an attempt to understand and go beyond <strong>the</strong> worldview in which ocupadeiras are perceived as undesired urban creatures. As argued by Latour (1993), modernity has taught us to avoid whatever is messy. And weeds frequently expose messiness, growing through <strong>the</strong> cracks in <strong>the</strong> concrete as <strong>the</strong>y like to do. The counter-design of weeds can be a reminder of life underground, and all around us. Timothy Morton (2017: 2), commenting on ecological criticism and <strong>the</strong> need to change our current images of nature, said that a new worldview “means dealing with how humans experience <strong>the</strong>ir place in <strong>the</strong> world. Aes<strong>the</strong>tics thus performs a crucial role, establishing ways of feeling and perceiving this place.” We hope, <strong>the</strong>refore, that our museum of ocupadeiras, and all <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r galleries of weeds, may contribute to changing such images, instigating urban planners – and urban humans in general – to perceive and question <strong>the</strong>ir place in <strong>the</strong> world. Endnotes 1 Earlier in 2013, <strong>the</strong> global wave of Occupy movements had taken an ecological turn with <strong>the</strong> demonstrations in Istanbul to protest an urban development plan backed by <strong>the</strong> government to cut down trees of <strong>the</strong> Gezi Park, replacing it with a shopping mall and a residential building. Similar issues usually ignited local demonstrations, such as <strong>the</strong> collective <strong>No</strong> a la tala de árboles (Spanish for ‘Don't cut down trees’), which held a symbolic funeral in 2016 in <strong>the</strong> city of Cochabamba, Bolivia, to protest <strong>the</strong> practice of cutting trees down for construction works and building reforms. Fortaleza, read: https://globalvoices.org/2013/09/01/ brazils-occupy-coco-park-fights-to-save-nature-reservefrom-construction/ 3 For an overview of <strong>the</strong> protests in Brazil, read: https:// globalvoices.org/2013/06/17/video-vinegar-revolt-bus-fareprotests-spread-across-brazil/ 4 https://cargocollective.com/joaomiguellima/Museu- Colaborativo-das-Collaborative-Museum-of-das- Ocupadeiras References Black, G. (2005) The Engaging Museum: Developing Museums for Visitor Involvement. Psychology Press. Kellert, S.R.; J.H. Heerwagen; M. Mador. (2008). Biophilic design: Theory, science, and practice. New York: Wiley. “Floods and The Chamizal <strong>Issue</strong>” National Park Service, February 24 2015, https://www.nps.gov/cham/learn/ historyculture/rio-grand-floods-and-<strong>the</strong>-chamizal-issue. htm, Accessed on May 13th 2018 Morton, T. (2017). Ecology without Nature: Rethinking Environmental Aes<strong>the</strong>tics. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Silveira, P. (2009). Híbridos na paisagem: uma etnografia de espaços de produção e de conservação. Ambiente & sociedade. Campinas, 12 (1), jan-jun, 83-98. Retrieved from http://www.scielo.br/pdf/asoc/v12n1/v12n1a07.pdf Spirn, A. W. (1996) Constructing nature: <strong>the</strong> legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted. William Cronon (Ed.). Uncommon ground: rethinking <strong>the</strong> human place in nature. New York; London, 91-113. Svendsen, E. S. (2009) “Cultivating resilience: urban stewardship as a means to improving health and wellbeing”. Campbell, Lindsay; Wiesen, Anne (Eds.). Restorative commons: creating health and well-being through urban landscapes. Newtown Square, EUA: USDA Forest Service, 59 – 85. Thoreau, H. D. (1862). “Walking”. The Atlantic Monthly, A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics. Boston: Ticknor and Fields. 657-674, June. 2 For details on <strong>the</strong> occupation movement, <strong>the</strong> political dispute and <strong>the</strong> Police intervention at <strong>the</strong> Cocó Park in Thomas, N. (2010). Commentary: The Museum as Method. Museum Anthropology, 33 (1), 6-10. <strong>Issue</strong> N o 2 85
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