It’s the 19th century, and the world of the Victorians is chaotic. The world is now
connected like never before, largely through the violent establishment of the British
Empire. Transport of genetic material successfully across oceans and into colonial
plantations was only possible thanks to Nathaniel Ward’s promotion of sealed glass
containers which came to be known as “Wardian Cases”, and through this technology
the global agricultural system of today was formed. As medicines, foods, and for
aesthetics, plants were established upon new soil and resituated in cultural symbolism
by Wardian Cases. By detailing historical colonial legacies current perpetuations of
agricultural neo-colonialism are made apparent.