Symposium on Natives and Aliens: Ethnicity in the Garden

Gardening is central to English and British national identity. So how is the gardening scene changing in an increasingly ethnically-diverse society? What about the people who garden in this country?  Is gardening a predominantly ‘white’ activity? How open is our garden culture to ‘foreign’ influences? What impact do different cultural attitudes to gardening have on the landscape in our multi-ethnic society? Is there any significance in the parallels between the discussion surrounding ‘native’, ‘alien’ and ‘invasive’ species in the UK garden with the discourse about asylum and immigration in the popular press?

This symposium seeks to explore these questions and more to encourage more debate about ethnicity and garden culture in the UK.

Speakers Noel Kingsbury, Claire Rishbeth, Dominique Heyse-Moore (other speakers to be confirmed)

Lunch and refreshments will be provided

Doors open at 10am with the event beginning at 10.30am