Halfway Points: From the Cape of Good Hope to Eternal AsylumHalfway Points: From the Cape of Good Hope to Eternal Asylum

The second episode of the live radio show Garden Broadcasts looks at the idea of acclimatisation of foreign species and people to new climates or cultures. With guests Esther Helena Arens, Kiza Magendane, Zuri Camille de Souza and Johanna Seelemann.

By the late 17th century, the Dutch East India Company had pioneered a technique of transplanting species from the tropical Dutch colonies to the Netherlands, using the hortus in the Cape of Good Hope as an intermediary stopover in terms of both geography and climate. This episode will examine the halfway point as a critical site in the migration of not only plants but also objects and people. While halfway points are designed to enforce hierarchies of power and control, they also generate new and unforeseeable cultures and ecosystems, as instincts for survival and adaptation negotiate with interrupted narratives, endless bureaucracies, and borders both porous and impenetrable.

The Garden Broadcasts weave together interviews, performances, field recordings and music selections to animate garden history as a living phenomenon. As part of the Thursday Night Live! programme and in collaboration with online radio Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee, visitors can take part as a live audience at the_ Garden Broadcasts _recording studio in the programme _Dissident Gardens_ or stream from further afield. More information and audio recordings can be found here.

Before the Thursday Night you can grab a bite to eat with the speakers and staff of Het Nieuwe Instituut. At 18:30 Het Nieuwe Café will serve soup with bread or a quiche with salad. Dinner vouchers are available for ¬ 7.50 up to a day before the particular Thursday Night event via the Tickets link.