Community Herbarium

The Citizens' Herbarium is a kind of scrapbook for nature lovers. It is a notebook in which the citizens could write down their emotions towards nature by pressing a plant from their immediate environment.

The rules are easy like in a game: You get a notebook, press a plant, write an emotion, your name, the location where the piece of the plant was picked, and pass the notebook on.

There are ten to twenty such volumes per city and they move based on friendly relations, without the influence and control of the author of the project.

The project is based on five principles:

1. Trust - handling the sensitive material, following the rules, not breaking the chain

2. Communication and connection - nature lowers are connecting, 100 to 200 participants get to know each other at the final event.

3. Collaboration - many people are part of the bigger project, the making of an artwork from material gathered (by the author)

4. Creativity - people are invited to create and take part in an artistic project

5. Ecology - raising the voice about the importance of nature and environment

The number of completed volumes that will be returned to the author of the project in the following year shows the strength of the community.

On the final event participants and the public are be invited to take a look at all the herbariums, the track the routes that all the books have taken, and participants will receive the thank you certificates. Also, the collected plants will be used for making new artworks as the author usually uses herbal motifs in her art. Artworks will also be presented at the event so everyone can search for and recognize the details of the artwork that is there thanks to them.

Community Herbarium is a slow project, going from personal to public and the main goal is to strengthen the project principles and complete the Herbariums.

The project is ongoing in several cities around the Europe:

BELGRADE: Herbarijum građana

Since 2022 in capital city of Serbia - #građanskiherbarijum. The project is already presented in media, but final event is not made yet.

SINT-NIKLAAS: Gemenschapsherbarium

Since 2024 as a new citizen in Belgium, Vesna makes efforts to be recognised as an artist in her community and also make some new contacts - #gemeenschapsherbarium

UPCOMING: Croatia

Soon more information. Starting in 2025.

Artworks

Vesna's artworks come printed on various materials (paper, canvas, cardboard...) with original file placed on a memory stick...

Biography

Doctor of Arts, specialized in digital graphic art. She uses unique technique to present her impressions about nature...