Kew Gardens is the world’s largest and most numerous botanical backyard, with greater than 8.5 million plant specimens, however behind the fantastic gardens and stately façade of the beloved British establishment lies the legacy of colonialism and imperialism. Two hard-hitting exhibitions mounted by the Royal Botanic Gardens are at the moment shedding gentle on the darkish observe of financial botany: the sourcing of vegetation from across the globe that elevated the empire’s wealth (e.g., cotton, tea, indigo and spices) typically brought about immense hurt to native populations.
“Flora Indica: Rediscovering the misplaced histories of Indian botanical artwork” is an exhibition of 52 illustrations by Indian artists, commissioned by British botanists between 1790 and 1850 and drawn from Kew’s huge collections. Many of those delicate, impossibly detailed drawings of vegetation, fruit and flowers native to India—some attributed, others by unknown artists—have by no means been proven earlier than and had been rescued from the vaults by curators Dr. Sita Reddy and Henry Noltie. They give the impression of being innocent, fragile and exquisite, however they served a extra devious function. The East India Firm—a agency initially shaped to commerce with India however later accountable for taking up giant components of it—commissioned these works to doc the area’s botanical riches, which they then plundered for imperial acquire.
Across the nook is “Botanical Twins and Seeds of Empire,” with work by British-Indian artists The Singh Twins that explains how financial botany operated. Guests encounter a wonderful mélange of shade, sample, gentle and element, with enormous digital mixed-media works stretching throughout lightboxes that make one really feel as if one is trying via a glittering, shifting, glowing kaleidoscope. There’s nearly an excessive amount of to soak up. Look nearer, nonetheless, and this isn’t merely ornamental artwork. It’s a brutal exposé of how vegetation had been used to additional imperialism, sarcastically advised with humor and whimsy.
Dying for a Cuppa ostensibly depicts fairly floral teacups, delicate lace doilies and ladies having fun with a comforting cup of tea, however on nearer inspection, tiny particulars reveal the tea commerce’s darkish hyperlinks to the opium commerce. East India Firm botanist Nathaniel Wallich first recognized the industrial viability of tea, and subsequent botanists stole the secrets and techniques of its cultivation from China. Britain then established tea plantations throughout the Indian subcontinent, powered by indentured labor. By the 1830s, the British had been smuggling Indian opium into China to pay for the tea commerce, making a era of addicts within the course of.
In one other work, Cinchona: What’s in a Title?, a British household in India is proven reclining at Christmas in a heat home scene. Right here once more, the satan is within the particulars. The bark of the cinchona tree offered the world with quinine, the primary efficient antimalarial drug, and its worth soared within the nineteenth Century, when malaria was one of many best threats to British troops within the colonies. Kew performed a central function in importing giant portions of cinchona bark to Britain for examine, and the unfold of empire was propelled by quinine, because the Twins illustrate within the border sketches. A quote from Ronald Ross, who found the malarial parasite and gained the Nobel Prize in 1902, says all of it: “Within the coming century, the success of imperialism will rely largely upon success with the microscope.” Driving the purpose dwelling are quotes and pictures from Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish biologist thought of the daddy of recent taxonomy, now well known for perpetuating colonial stereotypes by classifying Africans as “lazy” and white Europeans as “ingenious.” Scientific progress, based on the exhibition, had two faces.
In different placing items, Queen Victoria, Henry VIII and Shakespeare seem alongside Sikh gurus, whereas stately palaces are juxtaposed with shrines. A witty scene exhibits British households having fun with conventional delicacies, such because the beloved Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce, whereas highlighting its recipe’s Bengali roots. English aristocrats sip cocoa—one other 18th-century favourite—whereas we ponder its ties to the transatlantic slave commerce. Smaller works discover how vegetation resembling chillies, saffron, tulips and poppies had been revered by indigenous cultures.
All through, there are intelligent nods to the murky origins of many British treats, and revealing quotes from imperial directors, resembling former British dwelling minister William Joynson-Hicks, who was admirably blunt: “I do know it’s mentioned in missionary conferences that we conquered India to boost the extent of the Indians. That’s cant. We conquered India as an outlet for the products of Britain… We went with a yardstick in a single hand and a sword within the different.”
The decolonization of museums is a broadly debated matter within the U.Ok., and the Singh Twins (preferring to be referred to collectively) had been approached by Kew Gardens after their earlier work caught curators’ consideration. “Kew needed us to give attention to their assortment of botanical illustrations, which we did, however we additionally needed to take a look at the large image,” they advised Observer. “Why had been these illustrations commissioned? Who commissioned them? It was all about analyzing specimens, documenting them and seeing how the Empire—and different colonial powers—may domesticate them in their very own territories. However we additionally needed to indicate the cultural reverence for vegetation in grassroots communities.”
The Singh Twins’ observe attracts from Indian miniature portray, a type they had been as soon as inspired to desert in artwork college. “Our tutors all the time advised us to review Gauguin, Matisse, Picasso, the icons of Western artwork.” Ornamental portray, particularly miniature portray, was thought of outdated—and sometimes nonetheless is. The twins responded by coining their very own time period, “Previous Trendy,” to explain their fashion, which blends miniature portray, Western illumination, digital artwork and a pointy political message. “We needed to interrupt away from the ‘West is Finest’ narrative. In any case, Western artists have all the time been impressed by artwork from the East: China, India, Japan.”
The place the exhibition falters barely is in a video piece titled King Cotton, during which the Twins recite a poem outlining the colonial historical past of Indian cotton and the brutal destruction of India’s textile trade by the British. The work lacks the subtlety and visible layering of their visible artwork and verges on the didactic. Nonetheless, because the Twins identified, schooling is crucial when so many stay unaware. “There’s typically a notion within the West that colonialism was a benevolent power, one thing to be pleased with. In any case, the British constructed roads and canals and railways. We needed to reset that compass.” They emphasised that their aim is to not instill disgrace, however to encourage reflection and consciousness.
Many guests, they are saying, are shocked by what Kew has hidden behind its unique gardens. Some have even been moved to tears. “We’ve needed to give out quite a lot of hugs,” they mentioned.
“Flora Indica” and “The Singh Twins: Botanical Tales and Seeds of Empire” are on view at Kew Gardens in London via April 12, 2026.
Extra exhibition opinions
