Kew Gardens, the botanic gardens in West London, is one of the most relaxing places to spend a day in London. I’ve been a member for a few years now and regularly go there to relax. It’s lovely just to wonder amongst the variety of plants. They also regularly have new exhibitions. I remember enjoying the Chihuly sculptures a few years ago.
For the past few months, Kew Gardens has had talks, art installations and exhibitions on the theme of Food Forever. They explore the future of food.
I particularly enjoyed the art installations scattered around the gardens. The giant trolls (Matt and Helen) attracted big crowds when I was there. In Scandinavian stories, trolls were feared as monsters. However, they also represented guardians who lived in mountains or forests. These friendly trolls are eating together from surroundings bins, which are full of vegetables. They represent the benefits of eating together and of eating plants.
I found poignant the Shooting at Hunger installation. It was created to remember the historic famine in Ghana but is also relevant now as rising temperatures and drought result in poor crop yields around the world.
In contrast, the exhibition When Flowers Dream, with its pastel colours, brought a lighter, more playful, touch.
