Garde Rose

Flower exchange event in collaboration with August Klintberg, ongoing since 2012.

Arrive with a single flower. Leave with another. All who arrive with a flower are welcome. 


A performative garden party to which guests are invited to arrive with a single flower. Each flower is delivered to the artists, who record it into a ledger, prune and condition it, and place it in a vase from a vast selection of exhibited vessels.


Guests watch the growing volume of flowers, enjoy a dance on floral themes and refreshments made from distilled flowers.


Each guest is presented with a new flower when they leave — different from the one they arrived with — selected and wrapped by the artists.


The first iteration of Garde Rose took place at Le Petit Versailles community garden in New York City in 2012. Dancer Burr Johnson performed.


The second edition took the form of a dialogue with the vase collection of Brutto Gusto florist and gallery in Berlin in 2015. Violinist and academic Namik Mackic performed.


The third staging took place in 2019 at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh. Josep Almudéver Chanzà recited poetry and Jean-François Krebs presented a video on floral themes.