Florilegium, Jacques Nimki

Florilegium, Jacques Nimki

Another project directly referencing Digbeth’s regeneration is Florilegium, installed at Ikon Eastside by artist Jacques Nimki during the summer of 2007. For Florilegium (traditionally a Victorian pastime, meaning to collect and catalogue plants) Nimki collected weed specimens from in and around Digbeth, an area of Birmingham going through a surge of regeneration. These specimens were then cultivated and eventually planted within Ikon Eastside creating a visually stunning indoor meadow within a former factory space.  Nimki highlights these seemingly overlooked weeds encouraging the viewer to reconsider them ‘bringing to light their medicinal, magical and aesthetic qualities, thus challenging traditional notions of value and beauty’ encouraging the viewer to reassess their surroundings.

‘Here, the outsiders of the plant world can be found, determinedly pushing through cracks in the concrete or 

 wrapping themselves around street signs and lampposts. Undervalued and overlooked they nevertheless thrive in this most urban of environments. ‘