Opening weekend: Tree Talks
25 June 2022
Saturday 25 June
11am – 2:30pm
A series of 3 x talks about trees
£5 for whole series
Part of the opening weekend of Gustav Metzger: Earth Minus Environment exhibition ( 25 June – 4 September)
Please see full programme of events here
Trees are integral to the Gustav Metzger works on display in the gallery at Kestle Barton, which highlight uncomfortable tensions in our relationship to the natural world. A series of talks, panel discussions and workshops running over the opening weekend will explore our relationship with trees – from working with them to understanding their role in the ecosystems of the planet.
11-11:45
Tim Kellett, Ancient Tree Forum: Trees as ecosystems
Tim Kellett is Chair of Cornwall Ancient Tree Forum. He will be talking about the ecologies, cultural significance and wildlife of old and special trees. He has also researched and produced a self-guided tree and woodland walk starting from Kestle Barton for visitors who want to test their new knowledge!
You will learn the difference between ancient, veteran, notable and champion trees and the critical role they play in preserving biodiversity. You will discover what they can tell us about the landscape and how it was used in the past and how current practices may be threatening them.
12-12:45
Simon Miles, The Forest Garden: Agroforestry
Simon Miles is a horticulturalist, landscape and arboreal consultant, and is trained in herbal medicine. In 2008 he founded The Forest Garden near Falmouth, where he combines established agroforestry techniques to trial and pioneer other methods of growing so as to efficiently produce tasty food, medicinal and other useful plants. Integrating aspects of horticulture and forestry, forest gardening involves the cohabitation and interaction of plant species that are edible, medicinal, or of some other use to humans, the wider ecosystem and other plants: for example, some plants produce and fix nitrogen into the soil, others attract beneficial insects, many provide valuable habitat to support and sustain biodiversity. The concept of ‘forest gardening’ arose from observing how the interconnecting biological systems of tropical jungles sustained indigenous people.
You will learn how a forest garden works, why it works and how that information can be applied to Agroforestry systems, whichever scale your operation is.
1:30-2:15
David Wallace-Hare, University of Exeter: Trees & memory
David Wallace-Hare will talk about current involvement in a MEMBRA (Understanding Memory of UK Treescapes for Better Resilience and Adaptation), a major national research project that uses the concept of memory to bring scientific and humanities perspectives together to explore how trees adapt to stress, and how tree-memory, and the language of memory, can influence human decision-making capabilities and our moral relationship with treescapes.
To book tickets please contact the gallery.
