June 10, 2025
Migrant Herbarium of Affections
Date: Tuesday June 10, 2025
Time: 16:00–19:00
Location: MHiC, Sant Adrià de Besòs
Free Activity. Limited capacity.
Register → HERE
The first workshop of Crops Refuge: Survival in a Shifting Climate by Epicuro Lab, in collaboration with Iván Pérez Lorenzo and MalinalI García, begins with a simple but powerful invitation: participants are asked to bring a crop — whether in the form of a photograph, a drawing, or fresh produce — that reminds them of home. This gesture serves as a catalyst for personal storytelling and botanical reflection.
Based on the crops they bring, participants will create their own herbarium card, documenting both the botanical characteristics and the cultural and emotional connections associated with the plant. These cards will form a collective migrant herbarium — a living archive of memory and biodiversity.
In this activity, curated by Epicuro Lab, and guided by Iván Pérez Lorenzo, botanist at the Institut Botànic de Barcelona, we will trace the geographical and anatomical origins of these plants, learning how crops — like people — migrate, adapt, and carry cultural knowledge across borders.
By exploring the botanical trajectories of the crops brought by participants, the session fosters intercultural exchange. Through personal stories connected to food and agriculture, the workshop raises awareness about the loss of edible biodiversity and the need for more conscious, sustainable consumption. At the same time, the intertwined narratives of people and plants reveal how climate change is reshaping both ecosystems and food systems, highlighting the urgent need for adaptation and ecological resilience in the face of a rapidly shifting climate.
The session deepens with the participation of Malinali García, a Mexican journalist, activist, and creator of the podcast La Otra Orilla. Living in Spain since 2004, Malinali brings a unique perspective shaped by her own migratory journey and years of work on migration, interculturality, and human rights. In La Otra Orilla (“The Other Shore”), Malinali amplifies the voices of migrant women in Spain, turning personal narratives into collective testimony. Her podcast becomes a listening space where the emotional, cultural, and political dimensions of migration converge.
During the workshop, Malinali will lead a collective listening session, presenting selected excerpts from the Recipe Book of Migrant Memory, a series of stories about food and migration, accompanied by sounds from different kitchens. These audio pieces explore narratives of memory, nourishment, migration, and belonging, showing how cooking and eating can become acts of resistance, care, and remembrance. The discussion will focus on how climate, culture, and geopolitics are reflected in what we eat and in the crops we carry with us.
🌿 Herbarium Card – Migrant Herbarium of Affections
This printable card was used during our workshop.
Participants reflected on personal or cultural connections to each plant, helping to build a collective, emotional herbarium.
🟢 Feel free to use it to explore local biodiversity, personal memories, or intercultural storytelling.
🔗 Download and adapt freely for educational or creative use.
In the frame of Crops Refuge: Survival in a Shifting Climate.This project receives funding from a Horizon Europe project called VOICE
In collaboration with
