As part of my research, I booked a visit to the Herbarium and Economic Botany Collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as well as a research interview with the curator to further understand how artists and curators can collaborate.
Behind the scenes at the Herbarium, I was amazed by the collections and explored the vast herbarium collection. Interesting items that I came across included:
Historical herbarium sheets: The Herbarium houses approximately seven million preserved vascular plant specimens, which hold a vast amount of information about plants collected worldwide over the last 170 years.
Wardian travel case:
The Wardian case was accidentally invented in 1829 by British doctor and amateur naturalist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward. He had placed a moth cocoon he collected into a sealed glass bottle containing fern fronds and moist soil. Over time, condensation formed on the interior walls of the glass and dripped back onto the soil, while sunlight filtered through. Remarkably, the plant sprouted and flourished in this self-contained micro-environment, remaining undisturbed for three years. Ward unintentionally discovered that plants could thrive in an airtight glass case without needing water for extended periods. Recognizing these ideal growing conditions, he designed the Wardian case, which facilitated the successful transportation of live plants worldwide.
Economic Botany Collection:
The Economic Botany Collection boasts an extraordinary array of artifacts, all derived from plants, as well as 500 items sourced from fungi. The collection includes toys, paper, instruments, and fuel, each item narrating stories about daily life, celebrations of human experiences, and the building and defense of communities. Currently, we add approximately 2,000 specimens annually through global partnerships. This collection encompasses the various uses of plants from across the globe, with a particular focus on regions impacted by British colonialism or trade between 1847 and 1930.
I noticed scientists working hard on digitising the collections and felt inspired by the size of the place and the significant efforts being made for plant conservation and science including the expansion of the size of the building.
Original building
Light and spacious room with lots of windows
Large old style cabinets
Lots of stairs and levels
New building
New storage boxes for specimens
Dark room
No windows
Walking around the beautifully kept Kew gardens, I observed that the plant species were well-managed, and the diversity was interesting. It took a full day to explore, with art galleries for public viewing, and my highlight was the famous Shirley Sherwood Art Gallery, showcasing a new exhibition by celebrated contemporary artist Mat Collishaw, running from October 2023.
The exhibition, titled "Petrichor," featured new commissions alongside existing works exploring the relationship between the natural world and art history through various installations. The artworks include "Alluvion," which draws inspiration from 17th-century still life paintings and illustrates natural phenomena, "Even to the End," a large-scale projected work inspired by the innovation of the Wardian Case, "Heterosis," a collection of dynamic NFTs inspired by tulip mania, "The Centrifugal Soul," a zoetrope depicting courtship displays of bowerbirds, and "Albion," an illusion depicting the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest.
See full video tour here
From this research visit, I observed that Kew serves as an excellent model for facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration between artists and creative practices, particularly through the promotion of on-site art galleries within the botanical garden. However, I also noticed a deficit in public awareness of preservation and conservation methods, especially concerning the sharing of practical knowledge and actions that individuals can take to support plant conservation. I believe more efforts could be made in terms of information dissemination, such as displaying certain collections, like herbarium sheets, for public viewing. While this may be challenging due to the need to protect delicate collections, I argue that artists could find creative ways to address this issue.
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