China Landscape @ the British Museum
So. on Friday I took a whistle-stop trip to London to get some fieldwork done at the British Museum and the V&A. Whilst at the former I was sufficiently intrigued by the garden - that has appeared outside the main entrance - to take a look.
China Landscape is a collaboration between the museum and Kew Gardens, and recreates a Chinese-inspired landscape in the heart of London. Most of the plant species on 'display' (if that's the right word in this context?) are native to Sichuan province, which - given the recent, devastating earthquake - lends an extra poignancy to the installation.
The garden appeared to be fairly new; the plants don't quite yet look completely at home in their new location, but give it a couple of weeks and I'm sure the vegetation will be lush and the flowering plants will be bursting with buds. Well worth a look, should you happen to be in the area. The exhibition is free, and on until October 27th.
I've never before come across a garden in a museum, or - at least - one that forms an exhibition, with plants as objects. One ponders, could this be the beginning of a new exhibitionary fad?!
China Landscape is a collaboration between the museum and Kew Gardens, and recreates a Chinese-inspired landscape in the heart of London. Most of the plant species on 'display' (if that's the right word in this context?) are native to Sichuan province, which - given the recent, devastating earthquake - lends an extra poignancy to the installation.
The garden appeared to be fairly new; the plants don't quite yet look completely at home in their new location, but give it a couple of weeks and I'm sure the vegetation will be lush and the flowering plants will be bursting with buds. Well worth a look, should you happen to be in the area. The exhibition is free, and on until October 27th.
I've never before come across a garden in a museum, or - at least - one that forms an exhibition, with plants as objects. One ponders, could this be the beginning of a new exhibitionary fad?!
The entrance to the garden, marked by a calligraphy-adorned rock.
The facade of the British Museum in the background (complete with crane!)
A scholar's rock - for contemplation
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