An animated herbarium presents the tradition of Polish herbalism through contemporary illustration and refers to the history of the Polish school of illustration. The herbarium is inspired by the Polish and Japanese convergent tradition of “Seven Herbs Soup”, which was cooked in the early spring and was meant to deliver vital nutrients to the body. A similar tradition, although based on different ingredients, is cultivated in Japan.

The installation presents plants which contain substances with remedial, taste and flavour, to which magical powers have been attributed for ages. Some beliefs were confirmed by science, which, with time, precisely described their operation.

We lead the technology side of this project – starting from procuring the right hardware, through communicating the constraints of interaction with the illustrators and animators, till the final development and installation on site in Osaka across 7 places. The creative team was distributed across 4 countries, so we had to find a way to review milestones with all stakeholders of the project.