"Desen: Plants Don't Care About Borders" Workshop at Gate 27

Selected through an international curatorial jury, we developed Desen.digital during a Gate 27 residency in Istanbul. The
platform is a digital storytelling web app that links ecological movement to human migration. Participants generate
patterns from tulip, pomegranate, and carnation motifs, layering them with personal imagery. The app then produces
short narratives told from the perspective of the botanical motif, weaving together histories of migration, craft, and
belonging. I led the archival and cultural research, while my collaborator, Anna Rebecca Unterholzner, developed the
app. In August 2025, we tested the prototype in a workshop with artists, gathering feedback to refine the platform.