between-margaridas (2020-)

“between-margaridas” (entre-margaridas) seeks to give practical expression to female representation by mapping the daisy family (Asteraceae)—a flora native to Brazil. Thriving in unexpected places and adapting to diverse soil types, these plants evoke the same strength and resilience found in many Brazilian women named Margarida—such as Teresa Margarida Silva e Orta and Margarida Maria Alves. The stories are geolocated.

Using the Google Maps framework, the project maps endangered species of the Asteraceae family across Brazil, drawing on the “Red Lists” database from the National Centre for Flora Conservation (CNCFlora). Alongside this data, personal stories are placed on the map through user collaboration—submitted via email and including a brief life story, a photograph, and a location. This creates an affective cartography that maps and highlights the context of these threatened “Margaridas” (daisies/women) in both their botanical and political dimensions.

“between-margaridas” draws upon a scientific archive to create a database that fosters an urgent perspective on endangered botanical species—an environmental and economic territory undergoing gradual destruction—while simultaneously connecting with the women named Margarida and their stories as survivors of a specific sociopolitical reality.