Diana Taylor, Untitled, mixed media on canvas, 2022
Seeds, Trees & Mountains
Aga Khan Centre Gallery
10 Handyside St, London N1C 4DN
24 February–30 June 2023
For dates and timings for screenings & other events see ‘Notes to Editors’
Aga Khan Centre Gallery is proud to present Seeds, Trees & Mountains, a mixed media exhibition exploring the impact of climate change, in partnership with Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and One Resilient Earth. The exhibition features work by artists Veeda Ahmed, Samantha Buckley, Emily Ketteringham, Karim Ahmed Khan, Samanta Batra Mehta, Olga Prinku, Andrea Roberts and Diana Taylor.
‘The Earth turns to Gold, in the Hands of the Wise’
Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī
This quote forms the overarching statement for Aga Khan Centre Gallery’s first in a series
of exhibitions exploring issues around climate change. The presentation is a unique partnership between AKC Gallery (AKCG), Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) and Wakehurst – RBG Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex - home to the Millennium Seed Bank and over 500 acres of diverse landscapes and plants from across the globe. Six of the participating artists have all undertaken residences at Wakehurst or AKAH, drawing on their information resources to create work reflecting climate control. Two of the participating artists have responded specifically to the Rūmī quote.
Seeds, Trees & Mountains, which commenced in January 2023, is formed of three phases, beginning with a screening of Voices from the Roof of the World, an environmental documentary film series sponsored by Aga Khan University, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, Aga Khan Foundation and University of Central Asia about the climate crisis in High Mountain Asia.
The three-week film screening of Seasons 1 & 2 of Voices from the Roof of the World aims to raise awareness around the climate crisis in the earth’s highest mountain region stretching from the Pamirs to the Himalayas. The films have been produced entirely by local filmmakers from Pakistan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Nepal under the direction of Emmy-winning executive producer Andrew Tkach. In mid-April the Gallery will host a special screening of two of the films with an interactive discussion with the series producer Andrew Tkach, one of the filmmakers, and a representative from one of the project sponsors (AKAH).
The overarching aim of the project is to share AKAH’s research around environmental stewardship and climate change adaptation using nature-based solutions, alongside RBG Kew’s monumental Garfield Weston-funded Global Tree Seed Bank Programme. This programme conducts vital work around the preservation of key medicinal plants and endangered tree species in Pakistan, a country that connects
all three partners. The ambition is to create a unique partnership that encourages, supports and champions the exchange of knowledge and resources and which results in the alchemy of a beautiful and empowering visual art installation that interprets Rūmī’s quote.
Phase 2 of Seeds, Trees & Mountains is an AKU- ISMC, AKF-UK & IIS-sponsored exhibition that includes collaborations with Aga Khan Agency for Habitat and Wakehurst. Running from 24 February to 30 June, and staged at the Aga Khan Gallery, Kings Cross, the exhibition features artists Diana Taylor, Emily Ketteringham, Karim Ahmed Khan, Olga Prinku, Samanta Batra Mehta, Veeda Ahmed, Samantha Buckley and Andrea Roberts, all of whom have created artworks reflecting the abundance of biodiversity. The artwork shown will include existing and new work produced during their residencies, revealing an idealistic view of the abundance of biodiversity based on specific information in relation to the work the partner organisations are involved, including data from Kew’s Garfield Weston Global Tree Seed Bank and AKAH’s work on nature-based solutions. The other two artists have made work responding directly to the Rūmī quote.
Phase 3 will take place on Thursday 20 April, two days prior to Earth Day (22 April 2023) and marks a dramatic shift in the exhibition content. Artist Diana Taylor will change her installation through a performative event revealing the reworking of 68% of her artwork, which includes a panel discussion with Laureline Simon from One Resilient Earth and special guests. This reflects the 68% loss of global biodiversity over the past four decades. New work from other artists will also be added to highlight the protection and preservation work undertaken by the partner organisations and to show how many can support the fight against the climate change – the sharing and raising awareness of knowledge is key to the project’s overarching aim.
A Learning Programme to accompany the exhibition is also being planned, with various virtual and in-person events to engage the public including artists talks, recycle and reuse workshops, and talks and workshops featuring the work of RBG Kew and AKAH.
The background behind this series of exhibitions comes from a confluence of ideas: making global issues important local issues, sharing Aga Khan Development Network’s and its many agencies’ current work around climate change, the key messages from climate change from both His Highness the Aga Khan IV and his son, Prince Rahim. Aga Khan Development Network’s commitment to climate protection and adaptation is firmly established. AKDN’s overriding principles are built on clear values and ethics that permeate all AKDN organisations and operations. Over the next five years AKC Gallery will curate imaginative and informativeexhibitions and associated learning programmes focusing on climate change.
Says Hadi Husain, Director of Strategic Initiatives, AKAH: ‘The people of High Mountain Asia
live on the frontline of climate change. This year’s record-breaking floods in Pakistan are just
one example of the devastating consequences. We must listen to their voices and each take responsibility to combat this global crisis. The biggest threat to climate action is that people might think that it is too hard to succeed or that the problems are too big to impact. This exhibition offers a unique perspective on work that AKAH and RBG Kew are doing to protect habitats and promote climate change adaptation, inviting visitors to reflect on the issues and how they can take action.’
Esen Kaya, Gallery Curator, added, ‘We are delighted to collaborate with Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH), Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and One Resilient Earth on this special exhibition. Through this collaboration we are able to shine a light on their incredible work around climate change. They each bring years of ground-breaking, inspiring, and transformative nature-based solutions and the human connection to the climate crisis. The connection between AKAH and Kew is the work they are pioneering in Pakistan, in particular the nature-based work around the conservation and preservation around indigenous seeds, trees and for AKAH, their work within Pakistan’s mountainous landscape. This has been a very special coming together of organisations who may not have otherwise connected, so through a shared passion for active climate resolve, we realised this exhibition.
I am delighted we could invite artists from around the world, including here in the UK, to respond to the work of AKAH and The Global Tree Seed Bank programme. They each also bring a breadth of responses and varied creative language, enabling us to realise a powerful and thought- provoking exhibition that we hope will inspire and engage all age groups.
Through a series of virtual artist residencies our exhibition creates a powerful visual response to an aspect of climate change and in particular, it highlights the 68% loss of biodiversity globally. The exhibition brings together a variety of artist responses from across the world, from Karim Ahmed Khan who lives and works in the Hunza Valley, northern Pakistan to Emily Ketteringham, who charts and surveys landscapes across the UK to measure its geology. They each bring a personal commentary on the subject in a thought-provoking and meditative way.
The exhibition is curated in a unique way as it begins with the lusciousness and abundance of biodiversity but at the mid-point and through a performative piece, artist Diana Taylor will rework, remove and reframe 68% of her artwork in response to the global statistic. This will be a dramatic shift in the exhibition content and aesthetic. Other subtle shifts in artwork by the exhibiting artists will also be made, allowing a space for further conversations around the global climate emergency. We would like to invite audiences to view the exhibition at the start and return, to engage in events that aim to inspire and to create an opportunity for exchange and individual calls for action.
Exhibitions do not normally change mid-point, but I felt this subject matter needed to engage audiences in a unique way and so, I was thinking about how that might happen. It felt appropriate to think about the 68% global loss of biodiversity as a marker to create a platform where we could have more meaningful conversations and engagement around climate change. While the exhibition includes beautiful and thought-provoking artwork, the contextual narrative around this serves as a stark reminder of where we are globally. So I hope the content of this exhibition creates impetus in us all to do what we can as individuals, and collectively, to help raise awareness and address the climate issue head on.
The exhibition also includes a variety of contextual narratives on our partner organisations’ work around the world, including Aga Khan Development Network’s climate ambition and commitment to reach net zero by 2030 across its global agencies. The exhibition includes a couple of films from AKDN’s Voices of the Roof of the World documentary series – a series of powerful films around the impact of climate change on the communities in northern Pakistan.
This exhibition promises to be inspiring and engaging for all ages. So, there is something for everyone, from intriguing and powerful artwork, to detailed information on the work of AKAH, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and One Resilient Earth, a variety of publications and children’s books on the subject too – so younger audiences have an opportunity to learn from the exhibition too.’
Opening times:
Mon-Sun
10am-6pm
www.agakhancentre.org.uk/gallery
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