Arborescence 8

The tree-like and dream-like patterns of the Turkana landscape, The Rift Valley, Northern Kenya.

We looked at the Rift Valley from above and saw a contour of a tree. The term “arborescent” refers to a tree-like pattern of cracks branching out from the main “trunk.” This arborescent image helped to anchor EAMAN’s partnership with the EDEN project which has been artistically and scientifically exploring forms of communication both with and among trees.

EAMAN is a museum of Eastern African art which is being created at the cusp of the Rift Valley. The beauty, the vastness, the visual transformations and transitions as well as the dangers of living at the cusp of the Rift will be EAMAN’s breathtaking reality.

As the biggest arborescent structure in the world, the Rift Valley unites and divides the countries of Eastern Africa, all the way from Djibouti to Mozambique. The theme of arborescence and our study of it through art and science resonates both with EAMAN and the EDEN projects creating a new and distinct value and meaning inspired by the art, culture, and nature of the Rift Valley.