From summer 2026, sculpture meets the beauty of the natural world as we showcase four iconic Henry Moore sculptures alongside bold new commissions from contemporary artists, set across the gardens.
This remarkable year-long exhibition will invite visitors to explore the evolving conversation between art and nature and experience the beauty of each changing season.
Contemporary artists Rana Begum and Rafael Pérez Evans are showing newly commissioned works for the first time ever at Wakehurst, and Paloma Varga Weisz will be showing three sculptures never exhibited before in the UK.
Read more about the contemporary artists
These artists have taken inspiration from Wakehurst as a living laboratory and the vital science and research that takes place through our pioneering Nature Unlocked programme. Their installations, set in gentle conversation with each Henry Moore sculpture at Wakehurst, will offer fresh perspectives on care, protection, and the stewardship of the natural world – all set against the backdrop of Wakehurst’s wild landscape.
Organised in partnership with the Henry Moore Foundation, working closely with its Leeds-based Henry Moore Institute, a globally recognised centre for the study of historical and contemporary sculpture.
Two exhibitions, one landmark celebration of Henry Moore
This exhibition is part of a dual-site celebration across the Royal Botanic Gardens with another opportunity to experience Moore’s work at Kew Gardens.
Kew Gardens will be host to the largest outdoor exhibition of Moore’s work ever presented, with over 100 works, featuring 30 monumental sculptures set throughout the Gardens, alongside over 70 works on paper, models, and smaller pieces displayed in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. See Henry Moore: Monumental Nature for more information.
Organised with the Henry Moore Foundation.
Members go free
As a Wakehurst member, enjoy year-long, unlimited access to Wakehurst to view the sculptures across the seasons, and, with your one free visit to Kew a year, take in the breadth of the Henry Moore exhibition across both Royal Botanic Gardens Kew sites.
Contemporary artists
Medium: Timber and metal fencing
Location: The Paddock
Internationally acclaimed for her minimalist approach to light, colour, and geometry, London-based artist Rana Begum unveils No.1604 Mesh, a 14-metre-long sculptural installation merging industrial and organic materials.
A new commission, specially designed for the Henry Moore and more exhibition, No.1604 Mesh is constructed from industrial fencing interwoven with timber from Wakehurst trees, with a zigzag structure that follows the slope of The Paddock meadow. Its rhythmic design plays with the tension between natural and man-made forms, inviting reflection on architecture’s presence within the landscape. Shifting hues inspired by dogwood (Cornus) in Wakehurst’s Winter Garden and changing sunlight and weather conditions mean No.1604 Mesh transforms throughout the day and the seasons. The result is an evolving artwork that mirrors the temporal rhythms of nature.
Medium: Bronze
Location: Mansion Lawn
Celebrated German sculptor Paloma Varga Weisz brings her Wilde Leute series to Wakehurst, showing them for the first time ever in the UK. Paloma Varga Weisz's Wilde Leute are a modern continuation of a historical figure that was described in the Middle Ages as a symbol of the primitive state of man. The artist began developing the series in 1998 as a collection of small ceramic sculptures, which she later revisited in various sizes and materials such as wood, glass and in this case, bronze.
Medium: Wood
Location: Nothofagus Beech tree collection
Spanish-Welsh artist Rafael Pérez Evans introduces Horizontals, a series of six wooden resting sculptures made from salvaged timber sourced from fallen trees at Wakehurst.
Each sculpture offers a simple invitation to lie down and form a relationship with the trees above, the sky, temperature and smell of the wood, the ground, and the changing light. Visitors are encouraged to lie down on the sculptures, shifting from the upright pace of daily life to a slower, horizontal, more receptive encounter with the forest canopy.
