Village Raw - ISSUE 6

VILLAGE RAW
PARTNER CONTENT
THINKING LOCAL
TO ACT GLOBAL
Photo by Thomas Broadhead.
How can we make our
relationship with
the environment
more reciprocal?
Two upcoming events
at OmVed Gardens
explore the symbiotic
role of human beings
within the local
and global ecosystem.
This spring sees the start of a new programme
of events at OmVed Gardens, with
a focus on increasing awareness of the role
of human beings within local and global
ecosystems. In particular, two events take
different approaches to exploring symbiosis,
personal ecology, and the interconnectivity
of the natural world: Human and
Planetary Ecology, a series of workshops
run by Lori Hillman; and Rewind/Rewild, a
contemporary art exhibition and forum focused
on rewilding.
Human and Planetary
Ecology
In April, Lori Hillman will launch a series of
five weekend-long workshops on Human
and Planetary Ecology, to be held over
the course of the year at OmVed. Trained
in acupuncture, mindfulness, traditional
Chinese medicine and conscious ecology,
Lori will use her workshops to explore
food energetics – how the food we eat and
grow is linked with the health of our bodies
and the environment. The course will help
participants adapt the food they prepare
to optimise health and to develop a comprehensive,
individual health plan.
Spread across the year, the sessions
are closely connected to the season in
which they take place, and will involve the
cultivation of a permaculture vegetable
bed. Qi gong, a Chinese practice that helps
achieve a calm, meditative mind, will also
form part of the sessions.
To understand the bigger picture of the
natural world and our role within it, Human
and Planetary Ecology takes the individual’s
personal health or garden as a microcosm,
helping us to cultivate a more reciprocal
relationship with the ecosystem more
broadly. Lori’s approach is informed by an
understanding of soil, the fragile layer on
the earth’s surface upon which our lives
depend. Soil is a place of symbiosis, where
microorganisms feed other life forms in
return for being fed themselves.
Lori says: “OmVed Gardens is like a
‘wild corridor’ in the centre of London. Not
only is there biodiversity of nature, but of
people with a diversity of knowledge and
experience. They pass through this corridor
sharing and seeding ideas for the benefit
of human and planetary ecology, as do
the biodiversity of organisms that journey
through the wild corridor of a garden.”
Rewind/Rewild
For the first seven days of May, OmVed
Gardens will host an exhibition of contemporary
art that explores rewilding – a
movement dedicated to allowing natural
processes to resume without human interference.
Rewind/Rewild investigates
the ecological implications of this movement,
and the broader possibilities for
rewilding human lives. It will feature artworks
that analyse or challenge our relationship
with plants, animals and landscapes,
and our role in ecosystems. The
exhibition considers our need to re-engage
with the natural world and discover
a wilder way of living within the constraints
of human society.
Elements of the natural world will be
relocated into the space to create surprising
encounters, with contributions
from artists working across a variety of
media – from sculpture and installation to
video and photography. The glasshouses
at OmVed Gardens collapse distinctions
between indoors and outdoors, the urban
and the rural, suggesting that all environments
are potential sites for encounters
with wild flora and fauna.
Rewind/Rewild is collaboratively curated
by Glasgow-based artist Beatrice
Searle and writer Anna Souter, who lives
locally in Stroud Green. “Since moving to
this area, I have become much more aware
of the important role of green spaces, gardens
and wildlife in urban life,” she says.
“I often walk along the Parkland Walk
and through Highgate Woods. These are
spectacular examples of biodiverse urban
spaces, but there are opportunities to increase
our contact with the wild even on
a much smaller scale. We need to rethink
how we use urban space and maximise
biodiversity wherever we can if we want to
make a difference on a global level.”
As part of Rewind/Rewild, OmVed will
also host a day-long rewilding forum, bringing
together experts and the wider public
for a day of debate around ecological
awareness, our involvement in natural processes
and ways of living within healthy
ecosystems. The role of science, art and
architecture in protecting and res t oring
our ecosystems will also be explored. •
Personal and Planetary Ecology: Personal
Understanding and Healing with Lori Hillman is at
OmVed Gardens over five weekends: 6/7 April,
8/9 June, 6/7 July, 21/22 September and 12/13 October:
www.omvedgardens.com/events/human-planetaryecology-personal-understanding-healing
Rewind/Rewild is at OmVed Gardens 1 to 7 May.
The Rewilding forum takes place on 4 May:
www.omvedgardens.com/events/rewind-rewild
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