Summer 2023 at Wakehurst – Celebrate the power of trees
Why trees?
Trees are the lungs of the planet. Not only are trees wonderfully varied, but they also provide us with vital commodities such as food, timber, fuel and medicines. As forests in their natural state, they supply us with regulating and supporting ‘services’ such as soil formation, water catchment, erosion
control and climate regulation.
All this, and they’re beautiful too.
The brief
We are seeking artists of all disciplines who can help make the invisible visible and communicate important themes selected by Wakehurst in a way that is tangible, engaging, relatable and inspiring for the general public.
We are looking to commission between four and eight installations of different scales with budgets ranging from £5,000 to £30,000.
Building on the success of our previous summer programmes, Summer of Sound (2021) and Nourish (2022), our 2023 summer programme will be a three-month programme (July – September) highlighting the importance of trees. In addition to the day programme, we’ll have a series of related workshops for children and adults, and an evening event.
We are seeking artists to produce a piece which brings to life at least one the following topics:
• The dynamic nature of carbon
• Reforestation
• Genomic resources for healthy ash trees
• The ‘wood wide web’: Mycorrhizal fungi and trees
• Cultural identity and wellbeing
Deadline
Expression of interest by 15 June 2022.
Application process and selection
We invite artists to express their interest in the programme by 10am on 15 June 2022. We’ll then schedule online conversations with those that are suitable. To view the expression of interest documents please go to defra.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html and click on ‘view current opportunities’ to locate the project entitled ‘RBGKEW1069 – Wakehurst Summer Festival 2023’. To submit your expression of interest, you will need to register and create an account.