RIXC Art Science Festival 2025
Julia MENSCH. Amaranth as Political Agent
My project explores the intelligence, affect and political agency of Amaranth, based on fieldwork in Argentina and my close relation with this vegetal being. The context of my research is the implementation of the neo-extractivist model of transgenic agriculture in Argentina since 1996, when the first GM crop was released for commercialization in Latin America: the 40-3-2 Roundup Ready soybean from Monsanto (now Bayer) resistant to glyphosate. I understand this model as a continuation of the terricide that began with Spanish colonization, and it exacerbates the role imposed on Latin America as an exporter of Nature since 1492.
Amaranth is a native plant of the Americas. Its seeds were preserved by nature and indigenous peoples despite Spanish colonizers’ prohibition, and today it is the most widespread glyphosate-resistant weed, covering over 25 million hectares. It resists not only glyphosate but most of the agro-toxins used in transgenic agriculture. Also known as kiwicha, aroma, and colorado, amaranth may well be, as Dr. Andrés Carrasco called it, America’s revenge.
Julia Mensch is a Swiss-Argentinean visual artist who develops an interdisciplinary artistic practice grounded in deep territorial research , exploring socio-environmental conflicts and the legacy of colonialism in Latin America. She studied in Hito Steyer’s class at the UdK Berlin and at the National University of Art in Buenos Aires. Currently, she is a Doctoral Candidate at the Institute Art Gender Nature at HGK Basel FHNW and Bauhaus University Weimar. She has participated in numerous international residencies and exhibitions, including Savvy Contemporary and NGBK (Berlin), Museo Nacional de Grabado (Buenos Aires), Shedhalle (Zürich), Kunsthalle Appenzell, Art Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil (São Paulo), and BienalSur (Buenos Aires). Her work has been supported by the Senate of Berlin/DE, Pro Helvetia/CH, Amt für Kultur Appenzell Ausserrhoden/CH, Schlesinger Stiftung/CH, DAAD/DE, Robert Bosch Foundation/DE, Fondo Nacional de las Artes/AR, among others. Julia is a member of the Plants_Intelligence Team.