Boston Flora

Tag: Congo

  • Monday, May 31, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Other Voices in Garden History: Hearing the Voices from a Human Zoo, Online

    This eighth in a series of illustrated lectures sponsored by The Gardens Trust will explore the impact and legacy of empire, colonialism and enslavement on western garden and landscape history. Our aim is to bring back some of the voices usually absent from this history, to identify and fill gaps in our collective knowledge, and to explore new ways of engaging with the whole history of gardens, landscapes and horticulture.

    King Leopold II of Belgium ran the Congo as his own private colony from 1885 to 1908, treating the local people brutally. With the fortune he made from Congolese ivory and rubber, Leopold embarked on extensive building and landscape projects. The source of his funds was openly celebrated at the 1897 Brussels Worlds Fair, where exhibits included 267 people forcibly shipped from the Congo to be displayed in what were effectively human zoos.

    One of Leopold’s favorite designers was the French landscape architect Elie Lainé, whom Jill Sinclair has been researching for a number of years. Best known in the UK for his work at Waddesdon Manor, Lainé worked for the Belgian king from 1889. This lecture will explore some of the issues around interpreting landscapes funded by (and indeed designed to celebrate) colonialism and enslavement.

    This ticket costs £5, and you may purchase via the link here. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and a link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

    Jill Sinclair is a garden and landscape historian based in Sheffield. She is a director of the Historic Gardens Foundation, edited its journal Historic Gardens Review, and teaches the University of Oxford’s online course in the history of the English Landscape Garden. Jill is the convenor of the ‘Other Voices in Garden History’ lecture series.

    Image credit: Part of the ‘Congolese Villages’ at the Brussels Worlds Fair, 1897. HP.1946.1058.1-21, collection RMCA Tervuren; photo A. Gautier, 1897. Shared under the CCA license: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 BE

  • Thursday, April 9, 6:00 pm – Evolution in a Vortex: Fish Diversity in the Lower Congo River

    Join the Harvard Museum of Natural History on Thursday, April 9 at 6 pm for another in its Evolution Matters Lecture Series.  Melanie L. J. Stiassny, Axelrod Research Curator of Fishes at the American Museum of Natural History, will speak on Evolution in a Vortex: Fish Diversity in the Lower Congo River.  The talk will take place in the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge.

    Some of the most spectacular cataracts, falls, and gorges on Earth are found in the lower Congo River, in the heart of central Africa, near the twin Congolese capitals of Kinshasa and Brazzaville. This stretch of the river is also home to over 300 different species of fish, many with unique adaptations—including bizarre morphologies—that enable them to survive in an environment with intense rapids. Based on her many years collecting, documenting, and studying the fish in the lower Congo River, Melanie Stiassny will discuss the river’s unique hydrological and geographical characteristics and their role in driving the evolution and diversification of its exceptional fish fauna.

    The Evolution Matters Lecture Series is supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit.  Free and open to the public.  Free parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

  • Daffodil Bulb Sale Through October 8

    Garden Club of the Back Bay member Pam Steel will be running in the Tufts Health Plan 10K on  October 8 for the benefit of Women for Women International, raising money for WfWI’s programs in the Congo. Women for Women International works with socially excluded women in eight countries where war and conflict have devastated lives and communities. Each woman serves has her own story–some of loved ones murdered, and others of physical and emotional trauma. Most have endured a struggle for survival.

    Women who enroll in Women for Women’s one-year program learn job skills and receive business training so they can earn a living. They come to understand their rights and how to fight for those rights in their homes, their communities and their nations. They learn how to become leaders.  As part of this endeavor, Pam is offering packages of daffodil bulbs (12 in each package) in either a mix of colors or solid yellow, plus some small purple reticulata irises.  The price per package is $8, or five packages for $35, delivered to your door in the Back Bay – if you are outside of the area, contact Pam for more information on pick up.  Just email psteelboston@gmail.com to place your order.

  • Tuesday, May 11, 7:00 pm – Life and Colony Size Among the Ants

    Entomologist, photographer, and intrepid world-traveler Mark Moffett explores the parallel between ant colonies and human societies in his latest book, Adventures with the Ants. From his travels to the Amazon, the Congo, Borneo, Australia, California and elsewhere, Moffett provides fascinating details on how ants live and dominate their ecosystems through strikingly human behaviors: hunting, fighting, building, recycling, and even creating marketplaces.  Mark Moffett — “Dr. Bugs” — grew up in Beloit and graduated from Beloit College in 1979. His explorations of tropical forests and ecology have taken him around the world, from the top of the world’s tallest tree to deep in unexplored caves. He has discovered new plant and animal species while risking life and limb to find stories that make people fall in love with the unexpected in nature.

    Moffett captivates audiences with first-hand stories of tropical ecology, treetop exploration, teamwork and goal accomplishment under extreme conditions, adventures under a rock (wonderful and weird stories of ants and spiders), and the love of nature and conservation. Television’s Stephen Colbert calls him “Ant-Man” and Conan O’Brien calls him a “frog-licker,” but Moffett calls himself a storyteller.

    The lecture, followed by a book signing, will take place Tuesday, May 11, at 7 pm, at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street in Cambridge. The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information you may call 617-495-3045, or email hmnhpr@oeb.harvard.edu.

    http://www.roychapmanandrews.org//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Mark-Moffett-I1.jpg