Reto Pulfer (*1981) creates immersive installations using textiles, wickerwork and organic materials. Working within existing spaces, he employs temporary interventions to encourage new ways of seeing and experiencing the familiar.
The Zurich Succulent Plant Collection is the world’s most extensive specialist collection of water-storing plants, which are cultivated and studied on site. Like the Arboretum, the Succulent Plant Collection embodies a history of botanical appropriation: plants from arid regions across several continents have been brought together in Zurich, far from their origins – forming a small archipelago of their own. With his installation of ribbons and wickerwork, Pulfer invites us to question this order and to engage with nature in a different way. Pulfer’s hand-woven ribbons both echo and contrast with the extraordinary diversity of forms found among the succulents. Some elements are attached directly to the plants, while elsewhere the plants climb along the ribbons. Together they enter into a symbiotic relationship in which plant life and human culture merge, dissolving established hierarchies. Conceived as an organic process, the installation zustandsgestalten grows alongside the plants. On July 9, 2026, from 6 to 10 p.m., it will provide the setting for a special musical performance. Visitors will also be able to sample a drink made from succulent plants.
Overview
The installation is accessible throughout the entire festival period at the Zurich Succulent Plant Collection. Since 1931, the world’s most significant specialist botanical collection of succulents has been housed on the shores of Lake Zurich, currently consisting of around 21,000 individual plants cultivated in seven greenhouses. The collection and installation are open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; admission is free.
Location
Zurich Succulent Plant Collection
Mythenquai 88, 8002 Zurich
Visit
June 7 – July 12
The installation can be viewed in the greenhouses of the Succulent Plant Collection.
Daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Free admission
Thanks
With thekind support of the Zurich Succulent Plant Collection
Foto Credit: © Reto Pulfer