A big thanks to Teva for organising our visit. Of course, it helps that we were visiting the Darwin Centre, the result of his competition winning design. The centrepiece of the Darwin Centre is the eight-story Cocoon, a futuristic structure made of sprayed concrete, designed to resemble a giant silk cocoon. It houses millions of specimens, including insects, plants, and other natural history items.
We started in the wonderful Urban Nature Project which is a re-development of the gardens around the Natural History Museum. Here we had lunch while reflecting on the imperative to understand and protect urban nature. See https://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/urban-nature-project.html. The garden and some very crisp pavilions was designed by Fielden Fowles. There are some wonderful photographs on their web site. https://www.feildenfowles.co.uk/urban-nature-project-natural-history-museum/
After lunch at the Staff entrance to the Natural History Museum we met Dr Max Barclay, probably the UK’s foremost expert on Beetles, and a world resource and embarked on an exclusive, behind the scenes tour of the Coleoptera collections with a bit of Ripiphoridae, Tenebrionoidea, Curculionoidea thrown into the mix. For a taster, check out this 8 minute TEDx talk by Max: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGcu8WwheUU
Mid-afternoon we walked through Imperial College and into Hyde Park to explore this year’s Serpentine Pavilion A Capsule in Time, by the Bangladeshi Architect Marina Tabassum. It is a timber structure with a central courtyard, inspired by the idea of capturing a moment in time and reflecting on themes of memory, impermanence, and cultural continuity. Here is a short video about the project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ4yA_nI6lA&t=20s it provokes stimulating discussions about the meaning of Time, Pavilions, and Life in general.
Next was our visit to the adjacent Serpentine Gallery where we experienced the work of Guiseppe Penone, Italian artist and sculptor. Penone’s art encourages viewers to consider time on a larger scale, beyond human existence, and to appreciate the interconnectedness of the body and nature. He is known for his large-scale sculptures of trees, and his work is often associated with the Arte Povera movement (meaning literally ‘poor art’ which was an attack on the corporate mentality and commercialisation of art, using unconventional, everyday materials and style). If you have 5 minutes, I recommend reading about the exhibit:
https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/giuseppe-penone-thoughts-in-the-roots/
……and finally, to the Queens Arms to refresh and reflect on the day!
