Trees

From July 12th to November 10th 2019, the Fondation Cartier will present Trees, an ambitious exhibition devoted to trees, these exceptional living beings with unexpected faculties and yet widely threatened today.

Omnipresent, essential to life, the little-known living organisms that are trees have begun to generate a growing interest on behalf of the public, as evidenced by the international success of several recent books and movies devoted to the subject. Underestimated by biologists for a long time—like the entirety of the plant kingdom—in recent years they have been the subject of scientific discoveries that have allowed us to see these organisms in a new light. Interestingly, some of these are amongst the oldest and largest members of this community of living things. Boasting sensory and motor skills, capable of communication, existing in symbiosis with other species and the climate, trees are equipped with unexpected faculties whose discovery confirms what traditional knowledge has long since incorporated. The veil has been lifted on a fascinating world—the world of ‘plant intelligence’—which could be the answer to many of today’s technological and environmental problems.

The Fondation Cartier is publishing a catalogue allowing readers to discover all of the works presented in the exhibition through almost 500 images, as well as a rich ensemble of scientific and critical texts. Combining the work of painters, photographers, architects, sculptors, philosophers, botanists and climatology specialists, this publication highlights the beauty, ingenuity and biological wealth of trees, plunging the reader into the fascinating world of these heroes of the living world.