The publication presents the exhibition Herbarium, Seen & Dreamed, on display at the Celeiro e Lagar in Serralves Park between October 28, 2024 and April 27, 2025, showing how scientists, philosophers, writers, artists and filmmakers represent plants for scientific study or enjoyment, creating herbariums of a scientific and poetic nature.

Through a multidisciplinary approach, the exhibition curated by the artist Claudia Isabel Navas in partnership with the Serralves Park, presents the exploratory work of various botanists and artists, including the artist Mario Alberto Pedraza, who documented Colombian orchids based on the collections of Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) and Aimé Bonpland (1773-1858) and the impressive Grand Herbier d'Ombres (1972) by Lourdes Castro (1930-2022), presented in the installation Je/Eux d'Ombres.  At the same time, the first techniques for representing plants are discussed, from manual collection during the botanical expeditions of the 18th century to plant prints, hand drawings and the first photographs, with a focus on the illustrations of the Real Expedición Botánica (1783-1816), led by José Celestino Mutis (1732-1808). There is also a reference to the video installation on Impressions de Plantes [Impressions of Plants], a herbarium containing the plants collected in the Americas, as well as the Botany Photography Collection of the University of Coimbra and the unique watercolors of Portuguese orchids by Ursula Beau (1906-1984) that celebrate Portuguese biodiversity.