Sprouting Wrocław

On Saturday 21 May in the red hall of the National Forum of Music there was a concert by Jean-Luc Hervé. During the second part of the work– Germination, the composer invited participants to walk outside to the Wolności Square. The installation made use of the concrete system of line irrigation and astonishingly modest flora: forget-me-nots, great wood-rush and reed grass. Joining this minimalist construction with light and electronic music composed by Hervé created an unforgettable climate and reflected the watchword of this year’s edition of the Musica Electronica Nova festival – Growing.

The construction was prepared by Doctor Justyna Rubaszek and Doctor Magdalena Zienowicz from the Institute of Landscape Architecture of the University of Environmental and Life Sciences, and Magdalena Subocz – the author of the concept, which won the competition organized in 2014 by the Institute of Landscape Architecture and the National Forum of Music. It is worth noting that the selection was personally supervised by the composer, who made sure that the project would be consistent with the artistic concept.

The symbolism of Germination has been explained by Doctor Justyna Rubaszek, co-author of the installation: – the set and elements used are to depict the strength of two growing worlds: nature and the world that accompanies us every day – the urbanized one. Their mutual interpenetration, conflicts and dependencies were extremely significant for us.

Students of Landscape Architecture from the University of Environmental and Life Sciences had an important contribution to the show. They helped build and assemble the installation and looked after the flora. – Our main task was to prepare the sound installation before every show. Before every concert we turned on, synchronically at certain time intervals, 50 small, wireless loudspeakers and placed them among the plants in locations pointed by the composer – says Piotr Hankiewicz, one of the volunteers.