Cosmic Seed Basket: Cristina Ochoa

Somers Gallery

12 July - 2 August 2025

Somers Gallery is pleased to present the exhibition Cosmic Seed Basket by Cristina Ochoa as part of the 10th anniversary of Somers Gallery. This exhibition is part of the installation ‘Cosmic Seed Basket’ commissioned by the Royal Botanical Gardens, Wakehurst as part of the Millennium Seed Bank on its 25th anniversary. The exhibition at Somers Gallery presents the process and documentation of the installation at Wakehurst along with other related Cosmic Basket Seed pieces.

Wakehurst

4 July - 14 September 2025

Cosmic Seed Basket. A site specific installation commissioned by Wakehurts as part of the Millennium Seed Bank on its 25th anniversary.

Bringing back the spirits of the seeds.

That was the task ordered by the elders, the taitas from up heavens and down earth, as grand father Berito Kuwaruwa told me when he asked them, they said this job has to be done. This is seed is part of the origin.

The piece Is a time vessel in the Erythrina Americana seed minimum shape, amplified. The colorin, Tzité, for the Mayans, Tzompantle In Nahuatl is connected to the origin of humanity and times, according to the sacred book Popol Vuh the first grandparents throw the seeds of Tzité along with the corn seeds to create humanity. The oracle practice of seed reading with the erythrina americana is still in use by the Mayan quiché and by the Mexica who carries 260 seeds with precious stones in the sacred bag, and throw the over the mayan calendar Tzolquin or Mexica tonalpahualli. The Mayan created the concept of zero depicted as a seed or a shell.

For the totonacas lak'tanga" o "lak'tilo" in Veracruz, this was also a sacred seed, a protector used to prevent form evil eye and cure spiritual and natural illness: envy, tooth pain, and muscular soreness as Doña Juana tell us.

The time travels in numbers and codes, from dates of recollection of the seed to different porpuses, on the first of march, for evil eye, on the second to protect a business, and so on, on 7th until the last ones on the 13th of march.

The effect of the ingestion seed is to stop time, as sedative, hypnotic, anesthe and analgesic, and psychoactive agent.

Inside this structure build with bamboo, iron and natural dyed cotton fabrics, with Colorin seeds, Dragons Blood, achiote (annatto), grana cochinilla, moons blood, zapote. The work of weaving of 20 nets of seeds are trans dimensional portals and amulets of protection. You find the sound of the Erythrina americana seed, taken from the electrical resistance thru a vegetal sound translator, the sound has a bird style codes, and Mrs Juana Gonzalez, voice in Spanish, telling her relationship with the seed and the tree. She’s a traditional Healer from Tlapacoyan, Veracruz. Who take us in her narrative to the seed as an interstice on dimensional passage to times, honouring her tradition and the law of origin of American people, or Abya Yala.

We will broadcast from this zero temporal seed station and also grow a plant of erythrina americana the piece will be vanished and disappeared.

Cristina Ochoa

Specifications and credits for the Cosmic Seed Basket installation at Wakehurts

Cosmic Seed Basket
Cristina Ochoa
Mexico
Site Specific installation
4 meters long, by 2.70 Hight by 2.20 wide Bamboo, metal structure Natural dyed cotton fabrics
Sound from the Erythrina Americana Seed
Voice Juana Gonzalez Tlapacoyan, Veracruz, Mexico
Weaving seeds Yolanda Sanchez, Tlapacoyan Veracruz, Mexico

Juana González -Traditional healer- Tlapacoyan,Veracruz. Mexico
Eduardo Benítez -Sound of the seed- Sound engineer, Mexico City
Juan Ignacio Cinich – Architect- Tulum, México
Emily Jones, curator and production manager “Seedscapes” 25th anniversary Millenium Seed Bank. Kew Gardens, Wakehurst, UK
Set works, - Production structure building- Croydon, UK.
Claudia López -Production manager on site- Tlapacoyan; Veracruz. México
Production team, Tlapacoyan; Veracruz
Martin Pimentel - cultural touristic promoter, and Totonaca leader - Pablo López -cultural promoter, Tlapacoyan México

Special Thanks:

Marleen Boshen. Interdisciplinary research fellow, RBG Kew
Berito Kuwaruba, Spiritual Leader, Uwa people, Colombia.
Guadalupe Corona, Grandmother, Traditonal Healer, Tetla, Tlaxcala, Mexico
Tata Cristóbal Cojti. Aljib. Guatemala
Don Valerio Canché. X-Meen Merida, Yucatán, Mexico
Tiziana Ulian, Kew Gardens, Millenium Seed Bank
Isela Rodríguez, Kew Gardens, UNAM. Mexico City María Chavez, Kew Gardens, UNAM, Mexico City
Silvia Bacci Millenium Seed
Bank Kew Wakehurst, UK Gabina Sol Quintas, Pronatura Coatepec, Veracruz.
Javier Calderon, Somers gallery, London, UK.