bingenTV (1987) was a documentary-style talk show that was shot in the 1980s, never aired, and only recently discovered in a storage locker by researchers and artists Sophie Seita + Naomi Woo. The show immersed audiences in the world of the Hildegard von Bingen Society for Gardening Companions through interviews, musical interludes, and a healthy dose of gossip. With a charismatic host and a cast of queer characters (past and present), bingenTV embarked on a whirlwind jaunt through space and time, following some of history’s most insightful minds on interspecies and environmental care, plants, and healing.
Blurring the lines between fact and fiction, this immersive installation consists of the show’s original set, filmed episode fragments displayed on vintage TV sets, and an archive room featuring materials gathered across multiple decades of research, showcasing hidden & forgotten voices in queer history and beyond.
The Hildegard von Bingen Society for Gardening Companions transplants, reroots, and propagates a queer, feminist gardening society founded by 12th century mystic and musician Hildegard von Bingen.
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bingenTV is conceived by artists Naomi Woo and Sophie Seita, in conversation with The Hildegard von Bingen Society for Gardening Companions, produced by Queer Art Projects and funded by Canada Council for the Arts and Arts Council England.
