For immediate release - DOC 2

							For immediate release

Hi-res images available on request




      Botanical Art Bonanza to Draw in the Crowds


An awe-inspiring collection of botanical art from home and abroad is being
showcased in five separate exhibitions at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
(RBGE).


RBGE’s Head of Exhibitions and Events, Ian Edwards commented: “This Spring
witnesses an unprecedented selection of high quality art exhibitions at the RBGE all
with a strong botanical theme. The standard of work is remarkable with a range from
formal botanical illustration to plant-inspired works by some of Britain’s most highly
respected contemporary artists. The shows that span both Inverleith House and the
John Hope Gateway rival the Garden itself in variety, colour and beauty.’’


Visitors to Inverleith House can view the latest in a unique series of exhibitions in
which contemporary and botanical art are shown simultaneously in Forests and
Gardens of South India and Vincent Facteau. Such pairings have been presented
annually during much of the last 10 years and have typically featured collections of
botanical drawings selected from the Garden’s archives and being shown in public
for the first time, alongside new work by some of the world’s leading contemporary
artists.


Continuing the series of exhibitions of botanical drawings made by Indian artists for
the Scottish East India Company surgeons, Forests and Gardens of South India
features 55 botanical drawings commissioned by the forest conservator Hugh
Cleghorn (1820-95) and related plant specimens. On display until July 4, these have
been selected not only for their beauty, but also for their botanical significance.
Visitors also have access to in-depth descriptions of the plants, their properties and
their histories of discovery and study.
Californian artist Vincent Facteau, who works in papier-mache has brought his first
UK exhibition in a public gallery to Inverleith House, where he is exhibiting new wall
sculptures, in association with greengrassi, London.


In the John Hope Gateway, On the Edge of the World features contemporary art
from the British Council Collections, which reflect our fascination for the natural
world, while archives from the RBGE Library reveal the observations and drawings of
explorers to South America, including specimens from Charles Darwin’s Voyage of
the Beagle. The exhibition will end on July 18.


Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile features the work of three Turkish artists.
The watercolour paintings by Gulner Eksi, Isik Guner and Hulya Korkmaz have been
specially commissioned for a book on remarkable Chilean plants to be published by
RBGE. Their work will be on show at the Gateway Gallery until Sunday, July 18.


Botanical Images Scotia (BISCOT) to be staged in the Fletcher Building from June 8
to 24 will showcase top contemporary botanical art from home and overseas in an
innovative collaboration between RBGE and the Royal Caledonian Horticultural
Society.


For further details of all the exhibitions, log onto www.rbge.org.uk/events


ENDS


For further information, please contact Sandra Donnelly on 0131 248 1037 or
Shauna Hay on 0131 248 2900.


Editor’s Notes


Forests and Gardens of South India


The earliest drawings, of largely native species including trees, date from Cleghorn’s
period in the Shimoga district of Karnataka, which includes the richly forested Wester
Ghats and the drier Mysore plateau. These drawings were made for him, a different
species each day, by an anonymous “Marathi’’ artist. The second group, which
includes many exotic species grown in gardens in Madras are very different in style,
some by artists from the Madras School of Art, other by Govindoo. Govindoo had
previously worked for another Scottish surgeon, Robert Wright, and some of his
drawings were shown in Inverleith House in 2006.


The drawings are not only extremely fine, but tell an interesting story of the
introduction of plants from far flung parts of the world – some ornamental, others of
potential economic use to the East India Company for whom Cleghorn worked. The
trees depicted, including teak and eucalyptus, tell the story of Cleghorn’s role as a
forest conservator, which included the management of forests with valuable native
species and the introduction of exotics that appeared to have potential as being
quicker growing.


Forests and Gardens of South India and Vincent Fecteau exhibitions, open from
Tuesday to Sunday, will run until Sunday, July 4.




On the Edge of the World


Artists whose work is featured in the exhibition are Kate Atkin, boredomresearch;
Christine Borland, Dalziel & Scullion; Anya Gallaccio; Alexander Hamilton; Rob
Kesseler; Tania Kovats; Michael Landy; Heather and Ivan Morison; Simon Starling;
Alison Turnbull. A full colour 200 page publication in English/Spanish with additional
artists’ work, 11 essays and historical material exploring the subject is more fully
available.


The exhibition organised and curated by the British Council’s Visual Arts Department
is part of the Darwin Now programme. It is being staged at the John Hope Gateway
until Thursday, July 15.


Visit www.britishcouncil.org/collection




Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a Non Departmental Public Body
established under the National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1985, principally funded by
the Scottish Government. It is also a registered charity, managed by a Board of
Trustees who are appointed by Ministers. Its mission is “exploring and explaining the
world of plants for a better future” and its primary functions are as a centre of
scientific and horticultural excellence, keeper of the national collections and promoter
of science in the public domain.


The four Gardens of RBGE - Edinburgh, Benmore, Dawyck and Logan - are
numbered among the most popular visitor attractions in Scotland, bringing together
many inter-related cultural areas of activity.