10 green questions to… Joan Seguí
At the Jardí Botànic we are proud of our neighbourhood for all the cultural and social life it hosts, so how could we not talk to one of the illustrious neighbours we have, the Etno, the Valencian Museum of Ethnology, and its director, Joan Seguí. With a rich and long career in the world of museums, exhibitions and ethnological heritage, Joan was in charge of receiving the European Museum of the Year Award in 2023 (EMYA), a sign that they're doing something right. What? Understanding that an ethnological museum is not a simple collection of objects and building a solid reflection from them to generate an impact on whoever visits it, whatever its size. At Espores we invite Joan to look at the past, but also at the future, with our green questions, because we know that those who love heritage value the landscape, and with it, plants.
What is your first memory of nature?
I couldn’t really tell you. I grew up in a small village with farmer parents and nature was a metre from my house. I suppose it would be something like a snowfall, that had a big impact: you’d wake up in the morning and… snow everywhere!!
Which botanical aroma makes you automatically travel through space or time?
The smell of olives. The aroma of ripe olives before grinding to make oil.
If we stop by your house, the plant we’ll never find is…
Exotic things. At home we’re very Mediterranean, nothing “strange” in terms of plants.
Confess your unsustainable sin
An “unsustainable sin” shouldn’t be confessed, I would stop being able to enjoy it in the intimacy of my memory. I will tell you that it has to do with my environment: that of the dry farming countryside that has always surrounded me.
What’s the last plant you’ve killed?
When my father died in 2021, I planted an olive tree for him. It died. Then another one, it also died. Now I’ve planted a third one, I hope this one survives. The man must be laughing at me, I’m a second-rate farmer.
Your next green adventure…
Nature in the Picos de Europa… in Palencia. I go often because of family.
Choose a plant species to take a selfie with
The most grateful of all: Olea europaea (European olive)
Do you know how to climb a tree?
Just by taking a look at the terraces of almond and olive trees in Fageca you get an idea that we’ve all grown up climbing trees, with a stick or cane in hand. Many times.
Do you have any film or book that marked you where nature is the protagonist?
At the time “The Mission” impacted me. Nature and the atrocities of colonisation.
3 things you would take to a Botanical Garden
I like to go empty-handed, the place deserves a lot of attention. But if you ask me: a book, a pencil and some glasses.
