164pp., 4to., b/w & colour illus., map, paperback, Dwaalstêr Editions, Amsterdam, 2025

ISBN: 9789083474908

This project traces the life cycle and commodification routes of the protea - South Africa’s national flower and a species rooted in the Western Cape Fynbos biome - from the terrain where it grows wild through the hands that pick, sort, package, and trade it across oceans.

Incudes a photo essay by South African photographers Jabulani Dhalmini and Jansen van Staden.

Contributions include:

"Proteaceae Spectral: The naturalcultural haunting of colonialism" by Evie Evans

"Laboured Aesthetics" by Pamila Gupta

"The Relationship Between Conservation and the Cape's Wildflower Trade: A focus on proteas" by Robert Koopman and David Bek.

Pamila Gupta is Research Professor at the University of the Free State. She was formerly based at WISER at Wits University.

Evie Evans is a writer and researcher based in the UK.

Robert Koopman is a botanist based in Cape Town. Previous roles include Conservation Manager at the Botanical Society of South Africa.

David Bek is based at the Research Centre for Creative Economies at Coventry University where he leads the Creative Economies and Ecological Sustainability theme.

PROTEAN ROUTES, following the commodification chain of the protea flower between South Africa and the Netherlands

: Dhlamini (J.) & van Staden (J.) photo. & Evans (E.) et al text

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