Last chance to see acclaimed art exhibitions at Kew Gardens

Two acclaimed complementary exhibitions at Kew’s Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art exploring Kew’s colonial past and the connections between traditional Indian Art and contemporary art practice must end on Sunday 12 April. 

From a world-first public display of previously lost historical botanical art by Indian artists, to vibrant contemporary pieces by The Singh Twins exploring the mythologies of plants and responding to the colonial history of botany, these enthralling exhibitions examine Kew’s role in the business of the British Empire and illuminate the legacy of traditional Indian art.

The Singh Twins

The acclaimed presentation of works by The Singh Twins in Gallery 5 features a range of artworks, commissioned by Kew as a contemporary artistic response to its archive illustration and Economic Botany collections.

Botanical Tales and Seeds of Empire highlights diverse narratives around empire, colonialism and their legacies, and is inspired by the wider story of botany. These works explore interrelationships between the histories of botany, conflict and enslavement, and interrogate the wealth which the British Empire amassed from the development of economic botany: the hunting, cultivation and trade of plants, including cotton, spices and dyes — something which botanists from Kew were directly involved in. Displayed as digital-printed fabric, light box artworks these illustrate how the seeds of empire were sown during the age of European exploration from the late 15th to 17th centuries, driven by a desire to access commercially valuable plants beyond European boundaries. This innovative artistic response to colonial botany and its legacies reflects the work of the East India Company and the creation of the Wallich Herbarium, the source of much of Kew’s archive of Indian material, some of which is exhibited as part of the Flora Indica display. 

Alongside these artworks is a collection of allegorical portraits showcasing the symbolism, mythologies and folklore of a range of plants (including saffron, poppies, tulips and pomegranate).  These portraits, collectively titled The Masala Art Series celebrate the cultural value and significance of plants across different global traditions, as well as the reverent relationships that these traditions have with the natural world, presenting a stark contrast to Western colonialism’s unfettered exploitation of plants and the continued commodification of natural resources in the modern world.

Botanical Tales and Seeds of Empire also features the short film King Cotton: An Artist’s Tale, set to a poem written and narrated by The Singh Twins. The film explores the colonial history of cotton and its relevance to issues of globalisation, fair labour and climate change today. 

Flora Indica: recovering lost histories of Indian botanical art

In Galleries 1-4, visitors can encounter Flora Indica, a collection of 52 previously lost botanical artworks seen for the first time here as part of a comprehensive collection. For the first time, and wherever possible, the exhibition attributes and celebrates these artists as vital co-creators, of both astonishing artwork and burgeoning colonial botanical knowledge.

These botanical watercolours, created between 1790 and 1850, were commissioned by British botanists, many of whom were employed by the East India Company (EIC) to document India’s rich plant diversity. Some of these, including poppies, cotton and a range of herbs and spices, would go on to deliver great economic benefits for the British Empire. 

The artworks were created by commissioned Indian artists on Indian soil, to document flora native to South and South-East Asia and plants introduced from other parts of the world. Following their creation, the drawings were transported to London, where they remained in private collections or in the EIC’s India Museum. After the museum was disbanded in 1879, the botanical drawings were transferred to Kew Gardens. 

Until recently, Kew’s archive collection of over 7,000 Indian illustrations had been largely uncatalogued and used by only a small number of taxonomists, inaccessible to the rest of the world. Since 2018, Dr Henry Noltie has been working to reassemble this archive – cataloguing the drawings and identifying the plants shown and the artists who made them, the results of which can be seen in this exhibition.

Flora Indica, co-curated by Dr Henry Noltie and Dr Sita Reddy, the exhibition takes visitors on a journey which explores the environments in which these master artists worked, encompassing areas which today cover India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The style of works represents a fusion of traditional Indian artistry and techniques with botanists’ demands for naturalism and scientific specificity. Related herbarium specimens and archive objects are also displayed across the gallery to illuminate this largely untold story, recognising the vital role of Indian artists in helping to advance both scientific knowledge and the aesthetics of botanical art.

Maria Devaney, Galleries and Exhibition Leader at RBG Kew says: “Both of these exhibitions have been several years in the making and represent the culmination of lengthy research, development and creative processes, as well as a huge amount of collaboration. It’s wonderful to see how much our visitors have enjoyed these exhibitions, using the opportunity to engage with and find out more about the remarkable hidden stories of Kew’s botanical art archives, as well as feeling inspired and empowered by the contemporary responses created by The Singh Twins with their astonishing new works.”

Accompanying books are available from Kew Publishing.

The Shirley Sherwood Collection

A celebration of India’s rich biodiversity is also on display in Gallery Six.

From arid deserts and high-altitude mountain regions to tropical coastlines, India has a diverse climate and topography. Heavy rainfall and the high temperatures of the monsoons generally dominate the summer months, reaching highs of 55ºC in the north. In contrast, India also experiences icy winter lows of -45ºC in the Himalaya.

Naturally, a varied climate lends itself well to a wide range of native plants. It also facilitates agricultural production and India is one of the top global producers of crops such as sugar cane, cotton, tea, mango, coconuts and bananas. 

Several of the world’s most remarkable and beautiful flowers make their homes in India. There are golden nuggets wherever you turn: rhododendrons in the Himalaya, abundant orchids in forests and lotuses in rivers, lakes and marshes.

Yet various plants also take on a large cultural and religious significance. Marigolds, roses and the sacred lotus, for example, carry meaningful symbolism and are used extensively in ceremonies and festivals taking place across India. 

Featuring remarkable artworks from The Shirley Sherwood Collection, this exhibition invites you to explore the country’s most important crops, notorious natives and emblematic plants. India has a rich and diverse biodiversity.

At the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, we’re dedicated to harnessing the power of plants and fungi to end the extinction crisis and secure a future for all life on Earth. With Kew’s world-leading research, global partnerships and beloved gardens – home to the world’s most diverse collections of plants and fungi – we’re using our trusted voice to shape policy and practice worldwide. As a charity we rely on the critical support of our visitors, not only to sustain the gardens, but to protect global plant and fungal biodiversity for the benefit of our planet and humanity.

ENDS

Image credits: © RBG Kew.

Admission to the exhibition is included in a ticket to Kew Gardens. Pre-booking online offers the best value visit. 

For more information or images, please contact the Press Office at pr@kew.org.