Can we change the image of the Japanese Knotweed? Non-human agency in the Anthropocene
Japanese Knotweed was introduced to Europe by Von Siebold (1796-1866), a German physician, traveller and botanist, who collected and cultivated Asian plant species, encouraging their transplantation in colder, northern climates. Now, Knotweed is considered a hostile invader, threatening the foundations of houses, challenging native species and defying statutory controls to contain its agency. Catherine von Olden considers Knotweed as an agent of changing attitudes in the anthropocene, charting its course from Orient to Occident, colonized to colonizer and revealing how agency in non-human species might resist commodification and exploitation. Exploring changing responses to Japanese Knotweed since its introduction to Europe in the 19th century, this research asks if art can shift the public perception of Japanese Knotweed as a hostile invader. @instituteofhistoricalresearch
