21.06.2007
What stories do gardens tell us about the changing landscape of our cities and countryside? Do gardens improve people's quality of life and how does memory and childhood shape our feelings about gardens?
A public exhibition organised by a team of researchers at the University of Brighton is exploring these questions. With photos and drawings of UK gardens over a 20-year period, the exhibition takes place from 25-30 June 2007 at the Jubilee Library in central Brighton.
The exhibition forms part of a project to research domestic garden landscapes, funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC). To do this the team has been using the Mass Observation Archive at the University of Sussex to track people's changing perceptions of their gardens.
Professor Andrew Church and Dr Amanda Claremont, geographers in the School of the Environment, are working with colleagues from the School of Applied Science, Professor Paul Stenner, a social psychologist and Mark Bhatti, a sociologist to make sense of why gardens are such beloved places. The exhibition is curated by Brighton-based photographer Beatrice Haverich a graduate of the University of Brighton.
"The UK is often portrayed as a nation of gardeners; it is the most popular national pastime with two-thirds of adults regularly gardening in the summer," said Professor Church.
"However, there is little research into how people can create new landscapes through gardening and the significance of gardens to people's everyday life and enjoyment."
Public exhibition Imagining the garden 10-5pm daily from 25-30 June 2007 at the Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, Brighton BN1 1GE
Find out more: www.brighton.ac.uk/environment/gardens
Contact: Marketing and Communications, University of Brighton, 01273 643022
