Kew and British Museum combine to cultivate China in the heart
of London
Sponsored by Bank of Beijing
3 May – 26 October 2008
British Museum Forecourt
Admission free
In a unique partnership, the British Museum and the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew will conjure up a stunning China landscape in
the forecourt of the British Museum this summer. The landscape will
celebrate the two institutions shared vision to strengthen cultural
understanding and support biodiversity conservation across the
world. The experts at Kew will select and provide the plants and
design, the British Museum will provide curatorial expertise and
the location. The landscape follows on from the successful Africa
Garden created in 2005, and future collaborative projects are
planned.
Inspired by the collections of both Kew and the British Museum,
the landscape will reveal some of the connections between China’s
natural habitat and its culture. Trees, shrubs and flowers are both
cultural symbols and resources, used for building materials, food,
drink, clothing and medicine. The landscape will be a celebration
of natural beauty and the bounty it provides. Visitors will be able
to wander around the fragrant trails of wisteria (Wisteria
sinensis), admire the beautiful White Mulberry (Morus alba) and
historic handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata), whilst also
absorbing a strong conservation and sustainability message.
Most of the plants selected by the experts at Kew are native to
the mountains of Sichuan province in south-west China and will be
chosen for both their natural beauty and for the active role they
play in China’s cultural identity. The landscape will feature an
example of a maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba), the only surviving
member of the ancient group of plants which was widespread at the
same time as the dinosaurs, 180-200 million years ago. They have
only been saved from extinction through cultivation and today
provide a range of medicinal benefits; they are used for treating
chronic coughs and asthma and leaf extracts are used to treat
circulatory problems and memory loss.
Conservation is a strong theme in the landscape. The
handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata) is beautiful but also
vulnerable in the wild; in 1899, an amateur British botanist in
China alerted Kew to the alarming impact that the charcoal industry
was having on the forests of Yunnan province, home of the
handkerchief tree. Although now widespread in cultivation as an
ornamental, thanks to botanists and horticulturalists worldwide,
the handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata) continues to be
classified as a rare tree in the wild.
Visitors will also be able to learn about the economic
properties of plants in this beautiful landscape. Bamboo (notably
Phyllostachys aurea and P. nigra) is one of the fastest-growing
plants on earth and treated bamboo is strong and lightweight. In
China it is used to make everything from chopsticks, hats and
musical instruments to houses, bridges and scaffolding. Its fibres
are used for paper, fabric and medicine. The young shoots are
edible, the sap is made into sweet wine and the leaves are used as
food wrappers. Bamboo features in Chinese culture as a symbol of
integrity and outstanding character, it bends in the wind but never
breaks. A lacquer tree (Rhus verniciflua) will also be on display.
These are cultivated for their sap, which is used to make a durable
coating called lacquer. Lacquer can be polished to a high gloss,
and the sap can be coloured by adding the mineral cinnabar or
carbon black to make red and black. The seeds and leaves are used
in Chinese medicine to treat internal parasites and to stop
bleeding
China is famous for its classical scholar’s gardens –
picturesque places suited for social gatherings and silent
contemplation. This tradition will be reflected in the landscape by
the inclusion of a trellis, a scholar’s rock that symbolically
evokes the power of a mountain, and a rock inscribed with
calligraphy because no Chinese landscape is complete without a
touch of poetry. The landscape will also direct visitors to the
Museum’s Chinese collections where it is possible to see some of
the plants used to make objects (lacquer and bamboo) or to see them
as art motifs (chrysanthemums, willow trees and peonies) depicted
on a range of ceramic objects. A huge contemporary rock sculpture
by the artist Zhan Wang on display in the Great Court will
compliment the garden alongside the temporary exhibition
‘Fascination with Nature’ in room 91, featuring wonderful examples
of Chinese nature paintings.
At the completion of the landscape, Camden Council will relocate
many of the plants to Brunswick Square and Kew Gardens as a lasting
legacy of the China Landscape. The Landscape is in association with
China Now.
The British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew have
strong existing links with China. Both are partners in the World
Collections Programme, funded by DCMS, which aims to share London’s
world collections with Africa and Asia. Kew’s Millennium Seed
Bank’s conservation network spread to East Asia with the
development of the partnership with China in 2004. China is
regarded as the third most biodiverse country in the world. It is
home to over 30,000 vascular plants and around half of these are
endemic. Kew’s scientists worked with Chinese colleagues at the new
Chinese seed bank in Yunnan province to strengthen China's
biodiversity conservation and scientific researches. The British
Museum has multiple agreements with Chinese museums which have
resulted in successful reciprocal touring exhibitions and loans,
curatorial exchanges and skill-sharing.
For further information please contact:
Kew – Catherine Owen, Bronwyn Friedlander or Anna Quenby in
the Kew Gardens press office on +44 (0)20 8332 5607 or email
pr@kew.org. Images are available at
www.kew.org/press/images,
please contact the press office for the username and password.
British Museum – Hannah Boulton or Katrina Whenham on +44 (0)20
7323 8522 / 8583 or email hboulton@britishmuseum.org
or kwhenham@britishmuseum.org
Notes to editors
- Save the date: Press launch/photocall 1 May 2008
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Kew Gardens is a major international visitor attraction and its 132
hectares of landscaped gardens attract over one million visitors
per year. Kew was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July
2003 and represents over 250 years of historical landscape. The
site houses over 40 listed buildings and other structures including
the Palm House, Temperate House, Orangery and Pagoda as well as two
ancient monuments, Queen Charlotte's Cottage and Kew Palace.
RBG, Kew is a world famous scientific organisation, internationally
respected for its outstanding living collection of plants and
world-class herbarium as well as its scientific expertise in plant
diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and
around the world. www.kew.org.
- Up until the 9 February 2008 the Gardens open from 9.30 and
close at 16.15. From the 10 February until the 29 March 2008 Kew
Gardens will close at 17.30. From the 30 March 2008 Monday to
Friday the gates will close at 18.30 and 19.30 on weekdays. Until
31 March 2008, admission is £12.25 adults, £10.25 concessions and
FREE to children under the age of 17. From the 1 April 08 until the
31 March 09 admission will be £13 for adults and £12 for concession
and FREE to children under the age of 17. Further visitor
information can be gained by visiting www.kew.org, calling 020 8332 5655 or
emailing info@kew.org.
- British Museum
The British Museum holds in trust for the nation and the world a
collection of art and antiquities from ancient and living cultures.
Housed in one of Britain's architectural landmarks, the collection
is one of the finest in existence, spanning two million years of
human history. Access to the collection is free. The Museum was
based on the practical principle that the collection should be put
to public use and be freely accessible. It was also grounded in the
Enlightenment idea that human cultures can, despite their
differences, understand one another through mutual engagement. The
Museum aims to reach a broader worldwide audience by extending
engagement with this audience. This is engagement not only with the
collections that the Museum has, but the cultures and territories
that they represent, the stories that can be told through them, the
diversity of truths that they can unlock and their meaning in the
world today.