Seed Vault, Kuban Experimental Station of the VIR, Krasnodar Territory, Russia

Dornith Doherty, artist

born 1957

Seed Vault, Kuban Experimental Station of the VIR, Krasnodar Territory, Russia, 2012

Portfolio/Series title: Archiving Eden: the Vaults

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: inkjet print

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 91 x 83.5 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 35 13/16 x 32 7/8 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 101.6 x 96.5 cm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 40 x 38 in
Frame Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 41 1/4 x 38 1/2 x 1 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: Peter T. Bohan Art Acquisition Fund

Accession number: 2018.0012

Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Brosseau Center for Learning: Principles of Organismal Biology Fall 2019

This photograph is part of the project Archiving Eden: the Vaults, which documents many of the world’s seed banks. Seed banks play a vital, if precarious, role in protecting the Earth’s genomic heritage. Some of these take on truly post-apocalyptic proportions, being built in bomb-proof vaults that can resist nuclear attack. The seeds must be germinated periodically to test their viability. Doherty explains the genesis of this ongoing photographic project:

Spurred by the impending completion of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, I initiated Archiving Eden: the Vaults in 2008 to explore the role of seed banks and their preservation efforts in the face of climate change, the extinction of natural species, and decreased agricultural diversity. Serving as a global botanical backup system, these privately and publicly funded institutions assure the opportunity for reintroduction of species should a catastrophic event or civil strife affect a key ecosystem somewhere in the world.

Taken at the world’s largest and most comprehensive collections, these photographs trace in precise detail the spaces and technology involved in this important effort.

Big Botany: Conversations with the Plant World

This group of photographs is selected from photographer Dornith Doherty’s ongoing project Archiving Eden: the Vaults, which documents many of the world’s seedbanks. Seedbanks play a vital, if precarious, role in protecting the Earth’s genomic heritage. The stored seeds must be germinated periodically to test their viability. Doherty explains the genesis of this ongoing photographic project:

“Spurred by the impending completion of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, I initiated Archiving Eden: the Vaults in 2008 to explore the role of seedbanks and their preservation efforts in the face of climate change, the extinction of natural species, and decreased agricultural diversity. Serving as a global botanical backup system, these privately and publicly funded institutions assure the opportunity for reintroduction of species should a catastrophic event or civil strife affect a key ecosystem somewhere in the world.”