From 14 to 25 October, the FLORA International Flower Festival will celebrate its seventh edition and once again gather internationally renowned artists in Córdoba, who will create large-scale plant installations in the city’s most iconic institutional courtyards, as well as in other locations.
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The theme is ‘Multispecies,’ and it aims to reflect on a world that must move beyond the notion that humans are at the centre of everything and own the natural environment. “We must begin to understand that we are part of an interconnected community of plants, flowers, animals, minerals, microorganisms, humans, or any other agents. In other words, we must understand that we are part of the multispecies,” explains María Van den Eynde, General Director of FLORA.
FLORA is not only an exhibition of artistic talent in the floral field but also a showcase of how technology and science can be merged to address environmental challenges and promote sustainable management of the environment, will once again bring together prestigious international creators to display large-scale plant installations in Córdoba’s most emblematic courtyards.
The festival will also organise an ambitious programme of activities covering different themes and artistic disciplines, which will not only make Córdoba the epicentre of contemporary botany and floral art but also contribute to the city's growth in every sense. For twelve days, Córdoba will be transformed into a place to experience a unique cultural event, with activities on art, music, performing arts, society, thought, and other disciplines, flooding the city with new perspectives on nature and how we relate to it.
Among the activities taking place is the Floral Carpet in tribute to Julio Romero de Torres, which will be held on 20 October from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Plaza del Potro, and Raíces del Fonoceno, a sound installation that can be visited in the Jardines del Huerto de Orive on 19 and 20 October, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. (Saturday) and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Sunday).
©Carolin Ruggaber
Carolin Ruggaber, known for her unique style that harmoniously combines urban influences with a deep appreciation for nature, is the winning artist of the 2024 Patio Talento call, an initiative offering emerging artists or collectives, who have never created large-scale plant installations, the opportunity to participate in FLORA. The German creator joins Eugenio Ampudia (Spain), Coyote Flowers (Canada), This Humid House (Singapore), and Emily Thompson (United States). These five internationally renowned contemporary floral artists will compete for one of the FLORA prizes of €25,000 and €10,000.
True to its mission of fostering a sense of community and being a festival with the broadest possible popular participation, FLORA 2024 once again proposes a programme of complementary activities to the main programme. It also involves over 100 institutions, companies, and collectives—mostly from Córdoba—in the development of the event, together designing a route of experiences, gastronomy, and hospitality as recommendations for visitors to enjoy during their free time.
Flower by Bornay © Festival Flora ph. Laura M Lombardía
As a novelty, this year the installations will be on display for an additional day, extending from six to seven days. The final day of the exhibition will be 24 October, the feast day of San Rafael, offering an extra day as a gift to all citizens and visitors to the city. On 25 October, the traditional ‘floral guerrilla,’ which marks the annual closing of FLORA, will take place.
“FLORA is not only a successful project for Córdoba’s cultural life and a powerful tool for strengthening its national and international positioning, but it has also established itself as the largest event on contemporary floral art and botany that exists today. In 2023, it generated €16.4 million in Córdoba’s GDP in just 11 days of activity,” said María Van den Eynde, spokesperson for Zizai Cultura, explaining the significance the festival has gained since its inception in 2017. Van den Eynde emphasised the role of Zizai Cultura as the creator and financier of FLORA, the growing funding and involvement of the Córdoba City Council, the strong support of the main sponsors, and the collaboration of the Provincial Tourism Board of Córdoba, the Córdoba Guitar Festival, Hammam Al Ándalus, the University of Córdoba, and RENFE as the official train sponsor. “Thanks to teamwork, this year FLORA continues to grow, presenting installations with a budget twice that of previous editions and extending the exhibition by one more day, so that, on San Rafael’s Day—a day so special for our city—Córdoba’s residents and tourists alike can enjoy our festival.”
Meanwhile, Córdoba’s mayor, José María Bellido, affirmed that “once again, FLORA will put Córdoba in the international spotlight through floral art and botany. The festival not only promotes the Córdoba brand globally but also provides a clear return to Córdoba’s society, while allowing us to enjoy the great floral creators of our time in what is the best international competition of its kind. For all these reasons, we have once again increased our support, contributing €400,000 annually to the event so that the festival and the city continue to grow in every sense.”
The presentation of FLORA 2024 also featured the presence of Israel Muñoz Gallarte, Vice-Rector of Students and Culture at the University of Córdoba; Raúl Lozano, General Director of Hammam Al Ándalus; Isabel Albás, President of the Municipal Institute of Performing Arts of Córdoba (IMAE) and Delegate of Culture and Historical Heritage; Luis Flores, Manager of IMAE; Francisco Pastrana Jiménez, Commercial Manager of Southern Commercial Services at RENFE; Gabriel Duque Moreno, Deputy for Culture at Córdoba’s Provincial Council; Narcisa Ruiz Rodríguez, Deputy for Tourism at Córdoba’s Provincial Council; Eduardo Lucena, Delegate for Culture, Tourism, and Sports of the Junta de Andalucía in Córdoba; and Irene Maclino, Director of the Archaeological Museum.
AII IWA_©FESTIVALFLORA ph. Laura M Lombardía
THE WORK OF JOE HORNER, IMAGE OF THE VII FLORA FESTIVAL
This year, the festival’s poster has been created by the design studio underbau, featuring a work by British photographer and visual artist Joe Horner, who specialises in photographing flowers. Horner captures the delicate balance between the natural beauty of flowers and the harsh realities of their environment. The artist, whose mother was an avid gardener, learned from her to appreciate nature and the strength that comes from breaking norms and observing reactions. This approach can be seen in his best-known series, where colourful flowers endure in blocks of ice or rest on mirrors facing the sky, as seen in the poster for FLORA 2024.
MULTISPECIES, THE THEME OF THE VII EDITION
Having moved beyond categorisations that establish hierarchies between the different species that make up our reality, and witnessing a world that can no longer sustain the superproductive model, it is urgent to once again look around us as a multispecies community.
It is time to finally move beyond the Anthropocene, the conception of reality that places humans at the centre of everything, as owners of the natural space of which they are a part. Let us forget the “I” and think in terms of a great “we.” As Andrés Núñez and Ayleen Martínez put it in “Geo-graphy as an Aesthetic of Displacement” (Multispecies Futures, 2023), “nothing arises exclusively or personally from the human, but rather from a collection of possible relationships which, and this is also key, possess no hierarchies. Each species ‘is a mosaic of pieces taken from other species.’”
Perhaps only by understanding nature as a truly interconnected community of plants, flowers, animals, minerals, microorganisms, humans, and any other agent (isn’t cyborg reality also part of a broader concept of nature?) can we create a sustainable community in time.
As the American philosopher Donna Haraway, one of the brightest minds exploring multispecies reality, points out, there are two common responses to the disasters around us: full trust in technology as a solution or the self-fulfilling prophecy of “there’s nothing to be done,” an attitude Haraway herself describes as “game over.” In response to these, FLORA invites us to focus on care and respect between the diverse beings that coexist in our reality.
The future can only be multispecies.
ABOUT FLORA
Every October, FLORA once again makes Córdoba a focal point and object of desire for the world’s best floral artists and for anyone interested in approaching nature from the perspective of art.
Over its six editions, FLORA has succeeded in securing its place in the international floral and botanical culture calendar with a powerful tool: nowhere else in the world can one visit, in a single day, a selection of site-specific installations created with flowers and plants by international artists, as can be experienced in Córdoba every October.
The selected artists stand out not only for their quality and international recognition but also for projecting an artistic and contemporary perspective on botany, beyond mere decoration or festivity.
Ha I I Hhwa © Festival Flora ph. Laura M Lombardía
FLORA is not just about plant installations, although they are its core and driving force. Since its third edition, the festival has been complemented by an ambitious programme of activities that enrich the holistic approach the festival seeks to make to the world of contemporary botany. All the participating artists in FLORA, both the creators of floral installations and the protagonists of activities in music, performing arts, thought, and other disciplines, offer new perspectives on nature and how we relate to it.
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ABOUT ZIZAI CULTURA
Zizai Cultura was founded in 2016 with the aim of creating and promoting original cultural projects that contribute to transforming the environment in which we live. In 2017, it launched FLORA, the International Flower Festival, a one-of-a-kind event showcasing contemporary floral art. Initially, Zizai fully financed the festival's first editions, gradually gaining the support of Córdoba’s most important institutions. With FLORA, Zizai strives to transform the city through culture, particularly focusing on Córdoba’s rich heritage in botany, plants, and the life surrounding its iconic courtyards.
SPONSORS
FLORA is an original project created and organised by Zizai Cultura. Its main sponsors are Zizai Cultura and Córdoba City Council.
In addition, the festival is sponsored by the Córdoba Cathedral Chapter, the Culture Department of the Córdoba Provincial Council, the Regional Government of Andalusia, Cajasur-Palacio de Viana Foundation, and Loyola University.
FLORA also enjoys the collaboration of the Córdoba Provincial Tourism Board, the Córdoba Guitar Festival, Hammam Al Ándalus, and the University of Córdoba.
Official train: RENFE.
