by Deb Shaw
Alain Touwaide will be one of the lunch hour keynote speakers at the “Weird, Wild & Wonderful Symposium,” July 23–26, 2015 at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. We can get a sneak peak with a different lecture by Alain this Saturday at The Huntington, when he gives a talk entitled, “Gardens for Health: A Walk through History.”
Alain Touwaide will explore how humans have recognized the therapeutic benefits of nature since ancient times, and have built gardens that helped restore health, both physical and spiritual. By reviewing some iconic sites in the Mediterranean world—Pompeii, Constantinople, Baghdad, Cordoba, Granada, and Padua, among others—Touwaide examines archaeological fields and early manuscripts that illustrate the relationship between humans and nature through time and space.
Tania Marien has posted blog articles about Alain Touwaide and Emanuela Appetiti on ArtPlantae Today. She encourages all of us to attend: “I have been to Alain’s presentations at the conferences of the Renaissance Society of America and the History of Science Society and can confirm without question you will leave enlightened and leave thinking about herbals in an entirely different way. How Alain and Emanuela interpret what is written in the herbals is fascinating.”
Touwaide is scientific director of the Institute for the Preservation of Medical Traditions and research associate at the Smithsonian Institution.
Gardens for Health: A Walk through History Saturday, May 2, 2015 2:30 p.m. Rothenberg Hall The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Free; no reservations required