What We Store, What We Save, What We Lose
We built towers to hold the grain. Silos to contain the future. Granaries on hills where the wind would keep the wheat dry and the mice out and the hungry years at bay.
The granary is one of humanity's oldest inventions. Before writing, before the wheel—we built structures to save food from abundance, for the time when the harvest failed. The Sumerians built grain stores. The Egyptians built silos. The Romans built horrea—vast warehouses beneath the roads, keep cool by the earth itself.
We still build them. But now the granary is not just about survival. It's about control. Who holds the grain holds the power. The current crisis in the Strait of Hormuz doesn't just threaten oil—it threatens the fertilizer that grows next season's wheat. 45 million more people facing acute food insecurity. The arithmetic is simple: disrupt the shipping lanes, and people starve.
This exhibition asks: What does it mean to store the future? What happens inside those concrete towers? Who decides who eats?
The artists here treat the granary as subject, as material, as metaphor. Some document—the beauty of the silo, the geometry of storage. Some question—the politics of hunger, the economics of control. All ask: In a world of increasing scarcity, who gets to build the granary?
Welcome to THE GRANARY. A place to think about what we save.
Visitor Journey: The exhibition flows through four sections, exploring the granary from abundance to emptiness.
Section I - ABUNDANCE: The beauty of storage—silos, towers, geometric order. What we build to hold abundance.
Section II - CONTROL: Who controls the grain controls the world. The politics of food storage and distribution.
Section III - EMPTY: What happens when the granary runs dry. The architecture of loss.
Section IV - SEEDS: The future in storage. Seed banks, genetic libraries, the last hope for abundance.
The beauty of storage. Silos rising against the sky, concrete geometry, the elegance of containment. What we build to hold abundance—because we know the lean years will come.
Dornith Doherty — Archiving Eden (2008-present)
Chromogenic photograph
American photographer Dornith Doherty has documented seed banks around the world for over 15 years. Her "Archiving Eden" project captures the beauty and necessity of botanical storage facilities—the geometric perfection of seed packets, the architecture of survival.
She finds the sublime in storage. Beauty in the architecture of survival.
Beatriz Cortez — Chultún El Semillero (2021)
Steel sculpture
Salvadoran-American artist Beatriz Cortez creates sculptures that imagine space capsules for seeds—futuristic seed banks that could preserve plant life for generations. Her work merges agricultural memory with science fiction speculation.
She builds monuments to what we're trying to save. The seed as salvation.
Who controls the grain controls the world. Food as weapon, supply chains as power structures. The politics of storage.
Katerie Gladdys — Seed Cultures Archive (2015-present)
Installation, video, relational performance
Canadian artist Katerie Gladdys creates works examining overlooked agricultural landscapes, food systems, and seed sovereignty. Her Seed Cultures Archive preserves heritage seeds and questions industrial food control.
She archives resistance. Seeds as acts of rebellion against corporate control.
Kristina Wong — For The Love of Return (2024)
Performance and installation
Pulitzer-finalist Kristina Wong addresses food insecurity through performance. Her work documents community responses to hunger—mutual aid networks, food banks, the grassroots architecture of survival.
She documents what happens when the state fails. Community as granary.
The granary runs dry. What remains when the harvest fails? The archaeology of absence.
Lydia乱 OkKU — Granary Series (2023)
Mixed media installation
Korean-American artist Lydia OkKU creates installations exploring food scarcity and cultural memory. Her Granary Series transforms gallery spaces into empty storage facilities—concrete floors, dust, the smell of what was once stored here.
She makes emptiness visible. The ghost of abundance haunts the space.
Megan Wilson — Threshing Floor (2022)
Textile and mixed media
New Zealand artist Megan Wilson works with agricultural废弃物—threshing debris, chaff, the waste products of grain processing. Her large textile works preserve these invisible materials, making the discarded visible.
She finds beauty in waste. The leftovers of abundance tell their own story.
The future in storage. Seed banks, genetic libraries, the last hope for abundance. What we save determines what survives.
Amy Wilson — Graft (2019)
Sculpture, watercolor
American artist Amy Wilson creates sculptural works exploring plant propagation and genetic diversity. Her pieces examine grafting techniques—the art of combining plants, the science of survival through adaptation.
She builds with living material. The graft is both science and hope.
Pérez Evans — Untitled (Agricultural Readymades) (2021)
Installation
Spanish artist Pérez Evans repurposes agricultural objects—crates, sacks, tools—into art that speaks to food system politics. Their work protests industrial agriculture while celebrating peasant knowledge.
They turn agricultural waste into monuments. Every object tells the story of who grows our food.
Jillian Mayer — The Last Granary (2024)
Video installation
American artist Jillian Mayer creates video works exploring time, memory, and material culture. Her work examines what we build to last—and what happens when it doesn't.
She asks what remains. Monument as question: will anyone remember what we saved?
THE GRANARY | A CuratorMaestro Exhibition | Week 5 — April 2026