Two months after being awarded with a Silver Medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022, our exhibition Saving Seed will be reopening to the public at OmVed Gardens on July 20th, 2022.
The exhibition and its pavilion were conceived to highlight the importance of seed saving and food growing for human and planetary wellbeing. They express OmVed Gardens’ focus on ecological regeneration by focusing on the power of growing food and nurturing creativity amongst urban communities.
The pavilion has been created by architectural atelier selgascano to reflect and melt into the OmVed Gardens landscape, designed by Paul Gazerwitz. Its innovative shape and features – including a transparent rooftop and a sinuous series of rotating walls that can be set into different positions – are inspired by the organic forms of nature and the transformational potential of seeds. The design was conceived as a flexible exhibition and events space that could host the exhibition at Chelsea Flower Show 2022 and later provide a new space for reflection, education and inspiration by the pond at OmVed Gardens.
Mounted on the walls of the pavilion, the exhibition showcases OmVed Gardens’ regenerative growing and kitchen ethos, and presents data collected by our Seed Saving Network; a soundscape by wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson and audiovisual sound artist Julian Simmons; botanical illustrations by visual artist Maia Magoga; portraits of our enthusiastic community of seed savers by photographer Will Hearle; and a selection of articles about seeds and seed sovereignty published by OmVed Gardens magazine, Where the Leaves Fall.
The Seed Saving Network is one of OmVed Gardens most successful initiatives. It was born to encourage growers of all abilities to grow food and save seeds with the aim of putting the future of the food system back in their own hands and to build on the long history of seed sharing and saving done before us. Since its launch in 2020, the initiative has distributed seeds and tips to grow to more than 500 individuals. The exhibition’s seed germinated thanks to the enthusiastic response of its community in a Seed Swap event celebrated in September 2021.
More information about the exhibition can be found at: www.savingseedbyomved.com
The exhibition will be open from 20 July to 23 October every Wednesday from 12 to 5pm and Sunday from 9am to 2pm.
To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, our Head Chef Jo March will be hosting a special Wildflower Supper Club on July 21st.
