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BBC News
16-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Artists celebrate gardens in new Dundee V&A exhibit
The first planted gardens in Scotland arrived with the Christian monks in the 6th Century. They were practical places, full of medicinal herbs and nourishing vegetables. But they gave root to the huge range of spaces we have today, from formal parklands, to community allotments, and seaweed all celebrated in a new exhibition, Garden Futures, which opens at the V&A Dundee this weekend. "It's an ancient idea and the origin of human life in many cultures. Think of the Garden of Eden," said Francesca Bibby, one of the show's curators."Gardens represent society, culture, art and design. "They can also be political, therapeutic, environmental, nourishing, practical, aspirational and we tell those stories in the 400 objects in the exhibition." American architect Charles Jencks designed one of the most spectacular gardens in Scotland in the grounds of his home in Dumfries and Galloway. His extraordinary Garden of Cosmic Speculation is open to the public just one day a year and is dedicated to his late wife Maggie Jencks, with whom he created the concept of the Maggie's first one came about when Maggie, a keen gardener writer and designer, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 47. She received the news that her cancer had returned five years later while she stood in a windowless corridor in the Western General Hospital in that, she and her husband vowed to create a better space for people with cancer to go - outside, but near the hospital. Dundee was the second of their 24 centres to open in September 2003. Designed by Frank Gehry, the gardens were added later to link the centre with Ninewells Hospital. At their centre is a huge labyrinth designed by Arabella Lennox-Boyd."What looks like a puzzle is actually quite straightforward ," said Karen MacKinnon of Maggie's Dundee."It can be quite symbolic for how you navigate life when you have a major illness like cancer. How you manage is one step at a time."The gardens on the other side of the three-acre site offer privacy and peace as well as spaces designed to share. For many staff at the hospital, it's also a welcome breathing space."Through different seasons, these places can work their magic without us knowing it," said Karen. Other parts of the exhibition show the artistic inspiration of gardens and gardening, and how that inspiration can come full artist Duncan Grant, born in Rothiemurchus in the Highlands in 1885, was a member of the Bloomsbury Group, which included famous British writers and artists like Virginia Woolf. Like many in the group, he was unable to be open about his his garden in Charleston in Sussex became a sanctuary for the entire group where they could meet, express their art and be themselves. That garden in turn inspired Kim Jones of the fashion house Dior to create a collection of menswear for summer 2023, one of which features in the show.V&A Dundee are keen that the show seeds interest in gardening way beyond the their projects is a "knit and natter" event which will create seeded squares for a garden will be planted along the Dighty Burn in Dundee to restore the vegetation. The commission is by Alice-Marie Archer, a British artist and designer who uses traditional craft techniques to create knitted hydroponic sculptures in which plants can grow. Using natural undyed sheep's wool, which absorbs and retains rainwater, she adapts knitting patterns to suit the germination needs of different plants. "We hope this exhibition is the launch pad for people's interest in garden," said Francesca Bibby."If you're a seasoned gardener, you might learn something new, but equally people who've never gardened and never had a garden can get out there and start planting themselves."Glasgow designers Andrew Flynn and Eilidh Cunningham never imagined they would be leading the way in 21st Century gardening. Their company POTR focuses on sustainable design and their most successful product is a flat pack self-watering plant pot made from recycled material. "One of the main materials we're using is discarded fishing nets from around the UK," said Andy."We have the potential to clear up hundreds of tonnes of this material from our oceans."We can use one eco-system to help another."The flat pack plant pots are both ancient and modern, inspired by Japanese origami but using modern technology to pinpoint the exact location the material has been gathered from. Last year, they secured a major distribution deal in Japan."We weren't just non-gardeners," said Eilidh, POTR's chief marking officer. "We were people who struggled to keep a plant alive."We come from a design and engineering background, an industry which has a lot of innovation in it - but the humble plant pot has not seen its format change in hundreds of years. "So we've designed something from the ground up to make gardening and plant care simpler." Indoor gardeners These self-confessed former "plant killers" say they're delighted to be given space in the show's final section, which is devoted to gardens of the future."We're interested in urban spaces," said Andrew."To give opportunities to people who don't have access to a full garden and give them opportunities to grow not just ornamental plants but food. "Sustainability starts in the decisions you make in the household."And has the experience turned them into gardeners?"We definitely appreciate plants and the routine you get from caring for a plant," said Eilidh."We've just moved into a top floor tenement flat and we're in the process of creating an indoor garden. So it's definitely turned us into indoor gardeners."
Scottish Sun
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
‘Extraordinary' Scots attraction named one of the most underrated in the UK
It wasn't the only Scottish attraction that made the list GOT TO GO 'Extraordinary' Scots attraction named one of the most underrated in the UK AN "EXTRAORDINARY" Scottish attraction has been named among the most underrated places across the UK. Scotland is home to several unique and quirky places, so it's no wonder that many receive nationwide attention. Advertisement 7 Jupiter Artland is located in Livingston, just outside of Edinburgh Credit: Alamy 7 The Cells of Life areas by Charles Jencks Credit: Alamy 7 It is full of amazing sculptures like Gateway by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos Credit: Alamy 7 It also has an intricately designed swimming pool Credit: PA And a new study has found that one standout location actually ranks among some of the top underrated spots across Britain. Experts at The Telegraph have ranked the 12 best spots after exploring the country. They compiled the list by considering attractions that have a special quality that makes them worth visiting but are also quiet enough that "you don't need to shuffle shoulder-to-shoulder with the masses for a grand day out". And one of these is Jupiter Artland near Livingston in West Lothian, which the experts describe as "extraordinary". Advertisement This is a huge sculpture park which is packed full of woodland walks, rolling hills, sculptured greens, pools and caves. The attraction, which most people have never heard of, is set over 100 acres of woodland and meadows. You'll find an entirely new perspective on modern art in this extraordinary sculpture park Experts at The Telegraph And it's home to a massive collection of artwork from some of the world's best-known artists, including Antony Gormley and visiting exhibitions from the likes of Tracey Emin It's only open from May to September, and during this time visitors can explore the vast array of exhibits and sculptures whilst taking in fabulous countryside views across the Pentland Hills. Advertisement Several of the artworks incorporate islands or terraced slopes. For example, there is a humanoid steel sculpture by Anthony Gormley or brave a caged hole by Anish Kapoor called Suck. The five-star Visit Scotland-rated attraction was founded in 2009 by owners Nicky and Robert Wilson. Secret 100 acre woodland walk just outside Edinburgh At the time, the pair were on a mission to provide a free school visit for every child in Scotland and tens, if not hundreds, of thousands have passed through the gloriously lavish sculpted gates since. Various artists were given the freedom to express themselves in the landscape and create what is an astonishing outdoor gallery. Advertisement This includes the 'Life Mounds', which are visible when entering the park. Praising the park, the team at The Telegraph said: "You'll find an entirely new perspective on modern art in this extraordinary sculpture park set in a wooded estate on the outskirts of Edinburgh. "Moving around, on and through works of world-class artists like Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley and Ian Hamilton Finlay is uniquely absorbing, with children (and adults) welcome to get up close, touch, even swim in a work of art in the Joana Vasconcelos Gateway Pool." Advertisement But Jupiter Artland wasn't the only Scottish attraction to make the list. Kilmartin Glen in Argyll and Bute was also praised by the experts as being "evocative" and "magnificent". The glen, carved by glaciers in the last Ice Age, is located between Oban and Lochgilphead, surrounding the village of Kilmartin, on the west of Scotland. Britain's best underrated attractions HERE is the full list of The Telegraph's best attractions that most people have never heard of across the UK. Southern Cemetery - Chorlton, Manchester Kerdroya, Colliford Lake - Bodmin Moor, Cornwall Woodchester Mansion - The Cotswolds Jupiter Artland - Edinburgh The Thames Path - London St Peter and St Paul's church - Pickering, North Yorkshire The Regency Town House - Brighton Johnny Wood and Borrowdale Yews - Borrowdale, Cumbria Castle Acre - Norfolk Kilmartin Glen - Argyll and Bute Salmesbury Hall - Salmesbury, Lancashire Grime's Graves - Suffolk/Norfolk It is home to at least 250 ancient monuments, 150 of them pre-historic. Advertisement Nether Largie standing stones and Temple Wood stone circle are some of the best examples of standing stone monuments in Scotland. The Telegraph said: "It's hard to find ruins quite as evocative as those of Kilmartin Glen on the west coast of Argyll. "Begin by overlooking successive burial cairns from the roadside, then pass through fields of black-face sheep to a prehistoric collection of stone circles, cist chambers and henge monuments that are older than Stonehenge, older even than the Great Pyramid of Giza. "Perhaps, though, the wooded glen's most wonderful feature isn't its extra layer of Neolithic or Bronze Age remains, or the rock art sites that are denser than anywhere else in Britain (there are more than 800 at the last count). Advertisement "The most magnificent attraction is that its stories are still being unearthed from the soil by archaeologists — and so much of this history is still waiting to be discovered." 7 The attraction has been named among the best underrated places in the UK Credit: Alamy 7 The Weeping Girl statue at Jupiter Artland Credit: Alamy 7 The standing stones at Nether Largie in Kilmartin Glen, which was also mentioned on the list Credit: Getty
