Press Kit
The Mediterranean Botanicals Collection: Bay of Kotor
Cropped website-ready images of The Mediterranean Botanicals Collection: Bay of Kotor are available as a zip file below.
Photos of the Bay of Kotor are also included. All photos are for editorial use only.
Artist Bio
As an interdisciplinary artist working with photography and design, I explore the subtleties of power dynamics and influences of identity. My work examines public spaces and how they reveal choices that impact communal narratives and histories. I manually manipulate and distort my photographs to augment the accepted narrative and encourage discourse.
My work is a part of the permanent Rubell Family Collection and The John Paul Getty III founded Siena Art Institute Library Collection. Raised in the Caribbean, I currently live and work in Montenegro.
YouTube Playlist
Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. Photograph: Joelle McTigue, 2016.
Bay of Kotor a Mariner Legacy
Over centuries, mariners returned to the Mediterranean with seeds and plantlings. In The Mediterranean Botanicals Collection: Bay of Kotor, I examine how the pursuit of empires, trade, legacy, medicine, religion, and aesthetics forged the coastal landscape of the UNESCO protected site.
The bay's naval fleet peaked at 300 ships to protect its prominent salt trade in the Middle Ages. But, its mariner history potentially traces back to the Balkan Bronze Age. Over millennia, great European empires (Roman, Ottoman, Venetian, Napoleon, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian) owned a piece of the Bay of Kotor for strategic and merchant gain.
Today the Bay of Kotor strives for architectural revitalization and preservation while maintaining its wild beauty and traditions. Venice, Italy, continues to finance the restoration of Kotor's Venetian structures. Retired naval facilities around the bay have converted into five-star resorts and marinas welcoming mega yachts. Every year at sunset on July 22nd, sailors arrive for the custom known as fašinada, throwing rocks in the sea near Our Lady of the Rocks, a sailor-formed island near Pearst.
The pursuit of empires, trade, legacy, medicine, religion, and aesthetics have forged the coastal landscape of the UNESCO-protected site.
To view full scale images, click the button to navigate to Nifty’s where there is an expand button in the bottom right of the image.
Detail: Marvel of Peru, Origin Debated. Photograph Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, 2021. (The Mediterranean Botanicals Collection: Bay of Kotor)
Marvel of Peru, Origin Debated. Photograph Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, 2021.
Binomial: Mirabilis jalapa
Binomial: Mirabilis jalapa. Mirabilis [Latin] means wonderful, admirable, or marvelous. However, the use of “jalapa” in the binomial has been a point of debate among botanists for over 300 years. Irrespective of its discoursed nomenclature, the Marvel of Peru denotes a period of prosperity as it was a popular landscaping complement to brutalist architecture in mid-twentieth century Yugoslavia.
Edition of 1
Detail: Bengal Rose, Origin China. Photograph Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, 2021. (The Mediterranean Botanicals Collection: Bay of Kotor)
Bengal Rose, Origin China. Photograph Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, 2021.
Binomial: Rosa chinensis
Boka sailors brought home roses from the Bay of Bengal, China, for their personal gardens as fragrant privacy hedges during the rule of Venetian and Ottoman empires. To protect itself from the intense Mediterranean sun, the plant develops a purple pigment that acts as a sunscreen.
Edition of 3
Detail: Chimney Bellflower, Origin Southeastern Europe. Photograph Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, 2021. (The Mediterranean Botanicals Collection: Bay of Kotor)
Chimney Bellflower, Origin Southeastern Europe. Photograph Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, 2021.
Binomial: Campanula pyramidalis
The Chimney Bellflower is an Adriatic/ Illyrian native species from ancient times. In Lipci (near Risan), academics debate the intention and specific era (Balkan Bronze Age c. 1800 BC or the Balkan Iron Age 1100 BC – 150 AD) of rock paintings that depict lines and curves. Some scholars believe the drawings represent sailing ships and maps of the Bay of Kotor. The illustrations are the oldest depictions of Adriatic sailing and nautical maps in human history, if they are correct.
Edition of 3
Detail: Myrtle-leaf Milkwort, Origin South Africa. Photograph Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, 2021. (The Mediterranean Botanicals Collection: Bay of Kotor)
Myrtle-leaf Milkwort, Origin South Africa. Photograph Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, 2019.
Binomial: Polygala myrtifolia
Montenegro promotes its wild beauty. Municipalities set mandates of authorized plants for contemporary landscaping to maintain the ecosystems. Myrtle-leaf Milkwort arrived from South Africa but has since naturalized in the Bay of Kotor, making it an approved landscaping plant available at flower markets.
Edition of 10
Detail: Coconut Palm, Origin Brazil; Mimosa, Origin Australia. Photograph Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, 2021. (The Mediterranean Botanicals Collection: Bay of Kotor)
Coconut Palm, Origin Brazil; Mimosa, Origin Australia. Photograph Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, 2021.
Binomials: Cocos nucifera L., Albizia julibrissin
The Brazilian Coconut Palm tree’s first known transport to Europe from southern Brazil was in the 18th century. Seemingly out of place in the Mediterranean, the tree was nursed as an alternative fuel source in Yugoslavia. Instead, however, it became a statement of wealth in mansion gardens along the coast.
Naturalized around the bay from Australia, Herceg Novi, the city of sun, flowers, and stairs, celebrates the anticipation of Spring with the month-long Mimosa Festival because the flower blooms in February.
Edition of 20
Detail: Crimson Bottlebrush, Origin Australia. Photograph Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, 2021. (The Mediterranean Botanicals Collection: Bay of Kotor)
Crimson Bottlebrush, Origin Australia. Photograph Bay of Kotor, Montenegro, 2019.
Binomial: Callistemon citrinus
Crimson Bottlebrush originated near Botany Bay in southeastern Australia, where seasonal change affects the ecosystem like Kotor. The ancient walled city of Kotor sits at the innermost point of the bay, shaded by two steep and rugged mountains that create a biosphere for extreme weather. The city recommends planting the naturalized shrub because it thrives in the hot summers and fends off frost in the winter while producing its own natural herbicide.