Flower Culture

Exhibition, Tulip Festival /

New Outdoor Exhibitions of ‘The Journey of the Tulip’

When people encounter tulips in full bloom, they are often captivated by the flower’s incredible variety of colors and shapes. This fascination naturally sparks curiosity—not only about tulip cultivation, but also about the flower’s rich cultural and historical background. What better way to satisfy this interest than through an outdoor exhibition at your garden or festival, offering both information and inspiration?

Drawing on years of interdisciplinary research—conducted in collaboration with art historians, botanical experts, archaeologists, and museums—IGMPR has developed an engaging outdoor exhibition that brings the story of the tulip to life. Designed for tulip festivals and public gardens, this exhibition offers visitors an attractive and authoritative journey through the natural and cultural history of the tulip, tracing its path from East to West.

The exhibition features 24 beautifully designed outdoor panels with over 100 visuals, including rare artworks, illustrations, and photography. These are presented across four main themes:

1. What Makes a Flower a Tulip
Discover the anatomy, life cycle, and reproduction of the tulip, along with an introduction to today’s diverse cultivar groups.

2. Ancient Origins
Explore the natural history of wild tulip species in Central Asia and their earliest appearances in art and culture, dating back to 2000 BC.

3. The Rise of Tulip Culture
Learn how the Turks elevated tulip cultivation into a cultural phenomenon and how the flower made its way further into Europe.

4. Arrival in the Netherlands
See how the tulip, within just a few decades of arriving in the Netherlands, sparked “Tulip Mania,” influenced new art forms like still lifes and Delftware, and laid the foundation for today’s Dutch horticulture industry.

The exhibition can be tailored with additional panels to share the unique story of your own garden or festival.

The first version was launched at the Immersion Garden during the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan. An updated edition premiered this spring at tulip festivals in both the United Kingdom (Tulleys Tulip Fest) and Italy (Parco Sigurtà).

This cost-effective installation adds 15–30 minutes of meaningful engagement to the visitor experience. It also serves as a popular photo backdrop and an educational feature for school trips and guided tours – helping attract new and diverse audiences.Feel free to contact us about licensing and customization options.

Exhibition, Tulip Festival /

New art exhibition launch ‘The Journey of the Tulip’

This spring, visitors to the renowned Tulip Festival in Beijing’s famous Zhongshan Park – located next to the Forbidden City – will be invited to immerse themselves in the rich natural and cultural history of the tulip, a flower from the ancient Silk Road.

IGMPR was commissioned to design and curate this vibrant exhibition in the classical Qi Jian Fang Pavilion (80 m²). Drawing on years of interdisciplinary research in collaboration with art historians, botanical experts, archaeologists, and museums from around the world, curator Ibo Gülsen presents compelling new evidence of humanity’s admiration for the tulip, dating back as far as 2000 BC.

With over 100 carefully selected and newly created visuals and illustrations, this colorful exhibition explores the following themes:

  1. What Makes a Flower a Tulip: Discover the anatomy, growth cycle, and reproduction of tulips, as well as the modern cultivar groups.
  2. Natural History: Learn about the wild tulip species and their origins in the mountainous regions of Central Asia.
  3. Cultural History: Explore how the tulip has inspired art and craftsmanship across Central Asia, Türkiye, and the Netherlands – including ceramics.
  4. The World of Tulips: Enjoy a photographic journey through tulip gardens and festivals worldwide, showcasing the universal love for this iconic flower.

In addition, the exhibition features two immersive art installations:

  • The Istanbul Tulip Re-imagined
    In collaboration with local silk flower and glass artists, IGMPR brought the (almost)extinct “Istanbul Tulip”—once favored by the Ottoman sultans—back to life. These reconstructions are based on centuries-old botanical illustrations and artefacts.
  • Tulipmania!
    Experience the grandeur of tulips in 17th-century still life. We created XL reproductions of the stunning still life paintings by Roman and Henriëtte Resinger, featuring tulips displayed in Delftware flower towers—ceramic masterpieces inspired by Asian pagodas and originally used to showcase prized tulips.

The exhibition’s opening was attended by representatives from the Beijing Parks and Culture Departments, as well as officials from the Dutch and Turkish embassies. This exhibition can be tailored to different venues, languages, and educational formats. Please contact us to explore how it can enhance the visitor experience at your garden, museum, or festival.

The exhibition is very good and the exhibition is carefully arranged. I learned about the history of tulips and broadened my horizons. Thank you Zhongshan Park for creating such a good experience opportunity for tourists. – comment by visitor

Flower Festival, Garden Tourism, Media, Projects /

Immersion Garden just got bigger and better

For the second edition of the Immersion Garden at the world’s oldest tulip festival, Tulip Time in Holland, MI, IGMPR introduced the Delftware floral benches with patterns designed by Heinen Delfts Blauw and Pepijn van den Nieuwendijk. Another great addition were over 30 large interpretation displays with artwork visuals collected from museums all over the world, explaining the Journey of the Tulip – how it travelled from East to West – , and tulip art and culture in the Netherlands. During 8 days we received thousands of visitors each day and had sold-out weekends and rave reviews. We let the images and video’s speak for itself!

Obtained from social media
Uncategorized /

Immersive Blooming Object landed in Beijing and Shanghai

Since the implementations earlier this year in Guangzhou, Chongqing and Dafeng, the journey of our immersive blooming object on the occasion of 50 years of diplomatic relations between The Netherlands and China continued in September While navigating through lock downs and COVID restrictions our team managed to get everything up and running and in bloom on September 16 in Beijing’s Wenyu River Park and on September 29 in Shanghai’s World Expo Park. Over 15.000 flowers and and 1000 plants were used each time to create this immersive display, which is in the shape of the celebration logo, and is decorated with Delft Blue ceramic patterns, inspired by the first exchanges between The Netherlands and China.

Uncategorized /

Floral Celebration of 50 years Diplomatic Relations between the Netherlands and China

What started as an idea in late 2021 has come to bloom! In cooperation with the diplomatic network of the Netherlands in China and with the support of sponsors, local governments and partners, IGMPR will design, build and implement an Immersive Blooming Object based on the celebration logo, that will travel to 9 cities in China in 2022.

On 29 January the first implementation opened to the public in the beautiful Yuntai Garden in Guangzhou. Untill 20 February , over 120.000 visitors enjoyed the power of flowers and beautiful images were widely shared across (social) media.

Right after the Guangzhou we moved the installation to the city center of megapolis Chongqing, and 4 more cities will follow until May.

There is so much to share about the impact, the technicalities, the flowers, the organization, but we let these images speak for itself.

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Media /

IGMPR features in FloraCulture Magazine

The latest edition of FloraCulture International, the magazine for the international ornamental horticulture industry, contains an interview with Mr Ibo Gülsen about his experience in Asia and his latest project in Myanmar.

Both Pieter Teisman and Ibo Gülsen visited the beautiful country of Myanmar on a regular basis in 2019 to prepare for the flower festival in the National Kandawgyi Gardens in Pyin Oo Lwin. “We were so astonished by the rich flower culture that Myanmar has in its daily life and arts, so we decided to dedicate the theme of the festival to the ‘Culture of Flowers’. The festival was held from December through January and attracted over 500.000 visitors in just 30 days. 

You can read the full article here

Media, Projects /

Return of the Istanbul tulip

In cooperation with the World Tulip Society, the Consulate of the Netherlands in Istanbul, and many others, we returned the original Istanbul tulip to its birthplace.

On May 6 Consul General Bart van Bolhuis presented the tulip to mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who greatly appreciated the gift. The typical Istanbul tulip with its almond shape and pointy daggers, was cultivated in the 17th-18th century in the Ottoman gardens, and were described extensively in the Tulip Album of 1725. The earliest documented record in Europe of this tulip was in 1811, where the tulip arrived from the Orient and were planted in the royal gardens in Paris. Soon after it appeared in other places in Europe and was registered as tulipa cornuata and later acuminata. The acuminata is still grown on a very small scale by a specialised grower in the Netherlands, and its history was only known within a small community of garden and tulip connaisseurs. The event gained national attention in the media across Turkey.

Mr. Ibo Gülsen of IGMPR lead the project and worked closely with tulip specialists in Europe and Turkey to unravel the history of the Istanbul Tulip. Beautiful pictures of the tulip in the royal gardens were made with the support of Paleis Het Loo.