One Plant, Two Names
During my second residency at MUHNAC in the spring of 2025, I focused on the topic of scientific versus local plant names. The scientific term consists in two Latin words: the first describes the genus, the second the species. The name attributed to a plant by the local population is typically one word. This however can vary conditional to ethnic groups and dialects. Fernanda Lages’ research and the book “Common Names of Angolan Plants” (2018) by Estrela Figueiredo and Gideon F. Smith enabled me to assign a corresponding local name to each scientific name. Of the 20 plants photographed in Angola, I selected five:
Cussonia angolensis – omulomboti
Boscia mycrophylla – otyilembelembe
Faurea rochetiana – nuhahe omuhahe
Englerophytum magalismontanum – omutomboti
Strophantus amboensis – kanjelenjunje
An old window with multiple sections in my temporary workspace near Lisbon – a former fish factory – gave me the idea of working with transparency. This is where the installation “One Plant, Two Names” was created. Nine photographs taken over one day show the twofold names in different light situations.
Katrin von Lehmann, October 2025
