A wish to Resist Well

photographic series, limited edition prints on fine art paper, 59,4 x 42 cm, 2025

The photographic series A wish to resist well is part of the project Tiny Resistance, Crevices and Other Creatures, which evolves from my ongoing research on critically endangered and vulnerable species endemic to the Mediterranean. Fragile island ecosystems, where endemic flora and fauna thrive, develop in habitats such as rural areas, mountains, and coastlines, where human intervention has minimal impact.

Travellers from the 17th to the 19th centuries in Cyprus recorded how Nicosia used to be a green city, nourished in part by the flow of the Pedieos River. Over time, urban growth and infrastructure development reduced many of its green spaces and tree cover. While the precious endemic flora grows outside urban contexts, spontaneous vegetation emerges in adverse conditions, congesting the city. In the dry neighbourhoods of Nicosia, tiny rebellions manifest through concrete and wall cracks.

Invasive and self-sown native plants are integral to urban ecologies. By breaking through the materiality of the city, they embody resilience in the face of rising temperatures, water scarcity, and the hard surfaces of the urban environment. These plants create a growth path by taking advantage of the microscopic cracks in concrete. Tiny weeds and seedlings can gradually displace cement and eventually break through the surface.

The research on the weeds and seedlings inhabiting the city arose from the need to understand who these beings are. Through the process of locating and identifying them, a process of familiarization began. By walking around the area surrounding the Gardens of the Future, naturally emerging greenery in crevices and cracks, as well as cut-down trees -whose absence is marked by the remains of their trunks-, were traced and mapped to create a photographic archive documenting their existence. Profiling these plants revealed surprising discoveries, such as the fact that many weeds are edible and possess unexpected medicinal properties. By getting to know and recognizing them, we give them a stage. Extracted from the context in which they are unwanted, we elevate them and affirm their reason to exist.

Through the lenses of Ecological Materialities and Transcultural Memory, the project seeks to shift attention toward the silent signs of resistance and to recognize absence. During its development, weeds and spontaneous plants were gathered to create a bouquet, a gesture of well-wishing. This bouquet of weeds is meant to honor and encourage all beings that are marginalised and striving to find their place in the world. A wish to “resist well”.