Secret garden project
Secret Garden Project is a programme of temporary commissions and pop up art events by young and established artists that creates a trail of London's secret gardens, lesser known green spaces, and urban corners.
This varied programme of sculpture, performance, planting projects, artists' walks and literary works taps into environmental themes creating new habitats for wildlife, revealing the parks' ecological characteristics, and bringing a touch of green to greyer sites around the capital.
The Secret Garden Project is curated by Emma Underhill and has evolved across different London Boroughs from May 2010 onwards, beginning with the London Borough of Islington and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea as part of their In Transit Festival.
The project aims to:
- Bring high quality art projects and events to London's public realm
- Raise awareness of the ecological and cultural value of urban green space
- Encourage an understanding and engagement with ecology and biodiversity
- Create opportunities for community engagement and collaboration
- Encourage innovation
Some commissions draw on what UP Projects' calls contemporary heritage (combining local anecdotes, interest areas, with historical information and a cultural focus), where others respond to the physical context of the sites (the surrounding architecture, the ecology of the area, etc). Some projects offer an intervention that enhances the existing park or greenspace, and in so doing, emphasising the ecological and social benefits or qualities of these sites, where others transform spaces in the city that are far from green into a creative, artist's interpretation of what a garden can be.
Secret Garden Projects Themes
During the inception of the Secret Garden Project, a number of strong themes emerged which the artists have been asked to consider in their commissions.
- Ecology and environment
- Local history / contemporary heritage
- Mapping and Connection
- Garden history
Inspired by Garden History, some of the commissioned art works respond specifically to the traditions of Floating Gardens, Pleasure Gardens and Tea Gardens:
The Aztecs of Mexico developed floating gardens on man-made canals either by creating sections of heaped mud to plant seeds on above the water, or by anchoring reeds that floated on the water, producing fruit and vegetables. The Gardens exist today, producing flowers, fruits and vegetables for trade, and have become an attraction for both locals and tourists who relax on the canals and enjoy this market culture.
Many public pleasure gardens opened in London in the 18th and 19th centuries, including Cremorne Gardens and Vauxhall Gadens. These pleasure gardens differed from other public gardens by providing entertainments in addition to landscaped planting, such as promenade concerts and zoos or menageries. Tea Gardens, a smaller form of the pleasure garden, flourished during the late 18th century and were popular destinations for the middles classes who enjoyed Sunday outings. They were a place to drink tea and stroll across lawns viewing carefully sited statues. The grounds of Copenhagen House in Islington were once a popular tea garden, demolished in the 1850s to create a new Cattle Market near Caledonian Road. Today Caledonian Park stands on the site.