Tag Archives: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Rhododendrons: Riddle, Obsession, Threat 

This month we will be making our way to Inverleith House to discuss their new exhibition Rhododendroms: Riddle, Obsession, Threat. We will be joined by Emma Nicolson, Head of Creative Programmes. 

Coinciding with the peak flowering period of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s rhododendrons, this exhibition reveals our significant history of collecting, researching and cultivating this genus. 

Work by contemporary artists Simon Starling, Alison Turnbull and Yan Wang Preston is presented alongside historical botanical illustration, photography and objects from RBGE’s Archive. The exhibition also features newly commissioned work, Rhododatum: a collaboration between artists Stefanie Posavec and Ray Interactive, with RBGE Biodiversity Conservation Network Manager, Alan Elliott. This digital project brings to life RBGE’s expansive Rhododendron data sets and looks at contemporary concerns such as the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species and how that relates to our collections. 

Rhododendrons: Riddle, Obsession, Threat is supported by Players of People’s Postcode Lottery and the Sibbald Trust. The exhibition sits within RBGE’s Climate House project, supported by Outset Contemporary Art Fund’s Transformative Grant. 

Objects From the Temperate Palm House

The year starts with a visit to a pop-up artist-run gallery Bargain Spot Project Space to talk about their new group exhibition Objects from the Temperate Palm House.

Bargain Spot curators Lydia Honeybone and Abigail Webster will discuss the work in the exhibition and their plans for the space. Objects from the Temperate Palm House is a group exhibition presenting new, existing and commissioned work by eleven artists from Scotland, the UK and Europe. The exhibition presents their work alongside artefacts from the archive of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Borrowing the aesthetic of the renaissance ‘wunderkammer’ (cabinet of curiosities) the exhibition seeks to call into question how artworks are displayed and the act of looking in the gallery. The exhibition is curated by Chloe Reith and Kirsty White.