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“How did I get to be standing here? I am Southern African Bantu tribesman standing in the Chelsea Physic Garden, up in the tree is a White Wagtail migratory bird that arrives in Britain each spring from Malawi. Below us we both look at plants native to South Africa. How did we all three get here?” Sol Sato, The Bomb Factory Art Foundation Chelsea resident artist
In this collaborative exhibition with The Bomb Factory Art Foundation, Sato explores the interconnectedness of life, migration and the environment. Drawing on the artist's personal experience as a migrant from Malawi to Britain, the exhibition addressed the impact of moving plants and people across continents, and the environmental as well as geographical issues that arise from these movements.
Research Partners, who have played a curatorial role in the development of this exhibition, are Kew Botanical Gardens and Chelsea Physic Garden (Founded in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, its collection of Southern African plants provides a direct link to themes of the exhibition). At the heart of the site-specific presentation is a compelling invitation to consider how the cultural removal of plants, forced and unforced migration of people, and bird migration impacts landscapes and lives in a multitude of ways. The common themes are empire and the environment, looking back to times when British expansionism was based on exploitation and its mass fleet of merchant ships transported people and goods along the ocean. The question of environmental crisis is added by looking at bird migration as a layer above human activity. Through an immersion within frequencies of migrating birds and African wildlife, visitors are invited to reflect on themes of a global significance and consider their own place within these complex systems.
LOCATION: Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA (Main Gallery, Embankment entrance)
DATES: 10th - 13st October
TIMES: Thurs-sat, 11-7pm | Sunday, 11-6pm
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