Artist Talk: 'Gardens of England': The migration of forms and ideas
17 May 2024 - 17 May 2024
Join curator Hammad Nasar in conversation with artist David Alesworth for a special insight into the artist’s practice and to learn more about his paintings in the 'Beyond the Page: South Asian Miniature Painting and Britain, 1600 to Now' exhibition. The talk will begin with a seated event in our South Hall. The Box Kitchen and Bar will also be open and serving a limited menu. After a Q&A the event will move over to the exhibition in St Luke's so you can explore 'Beyond the Page' further.
Bristol-based artist David Alesworth has extended his ongoing collaborative project (with Shakila Haider), Gardens of England – as a new commission for Beyond the Page.
In this conversation with Hammad Nasar, Alesworth discusses this new commission in the wider context of his longstanding interest in questions of ecology, and considers the history of gardens and horticulture as a lens through which to consider colonialism's entangled pasts and connected futures.
About David Alesworth
David Alesworth is a sculptor, photographer and researcher of garden histories, working between Pakistan and the United Kingdom. He was a pivotal member of the Karachi Pop movement in the 1990s, the head of Sculpture at the IVSAA, Karachi and is a member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. Recent exhibitions include Hortus Nocte (solo) Karachi (2023); Patterns of the Past: Weaving and heritage in Pakistani Art (2021) London; Centre of Gravity (2020), Bristol; The Lahore Biennale (2018); Pera Museum, Istanbul (2016); Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju (2017); and the A. Kasteyev State Museum of Arts, Almaty, Kazakhstan (2018).
About Hammad Nasar
Hammad Nasar is a curator, writer and strategic advisor. He has held numerous leadership roles and fellowships internationally, including Senior Research Fellow at Yale University’s Paul Mellon Centre, London; Principal Research Fellow at UAL’s Decolonising Arts Institute; Executive Director of the Stuart Hall Foundation, London; Head of Research & Programmes at Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong; and co-founder of Green Cardamom, London.
Recent exhibitions he has curated/co-curated include Beyond the Page: South Asian Miniature Painting and Britain, 1600 to Now (2023-2024); Making New Worlds: Li Yuan-chia & Friends (2023-2024); British Art Show 9 (2021-2022); Turner Prize (2021); and Rock, Paper, Scissors: Positions in Play – the UAE’s National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2017). He is a board member of the Henry Moore Foundation (UK) and Mophradat (Belgium), and was awarded an MBE for services to the arts in 2023.
Image credit
Gardens of England series by David Alesworth, 2016-2023. Image courtesy of the artist.