Seeds

Seeds are the very foundation of our life. They provide us with the nutriments and raw materials we need, they embody biological diversity, they preserve and pass on regional knowledge and cultural heritage, and they stand for hope, change and renewal. The main exhibition of the Klima Biennale Wien explores the multilayered meanings of seeds as a mirror of our relationship to the earth and one another.

For the fourteen international artists of the exhibition, the seed is the starting point for their investigations from ecological, art historical, and symbolic perspectives. Originating from different geographical and cultural contexts, the works collected consider migration and colonialism, indigenous knowledge and biodiversity, agriculture and food sovereignty, but also resistance, self-empowerment, cooperative praxis based on solidarity, and regenerative futures.

The exhibition Seeds. Reclaiming Roots, Sowing Futures forges links between art, ecology and activism. The sculptures, installations, photographs and video works tell of disappearance and preservation, of loss and regeneration, of the poetic as well as political potential intrinsic to mutual concern and shared growing. Just as a seed contains within itself heritage and potential, histories and futures, a series of multifaceted narratives unfurl in the exhibition, tangibly revealing the interdependencies and complexity of the global climate crisis and inviting us to reflect on possible futures.

Artists
Ackroyd & Harvey, Maria Thereza Alves, Alexandra Baumgartner, Tue Greenfort, Kapwani Kiwanga, Dominique Koch, Jumana Manna, Christian Kosmas Mayer, Marzia Migliora, Lucia Pizzani, Michaela Putz, Cecilia Vicuña, Munem Wasif

Curator
Sophie Haslinger

The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication to be published by Spector Books, Leipzig.

Part of Klima Biennale Wien 2026

Content partners:
ARCHE NOAH and Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna