Paradise Lost exhibition, Kew Gardens

Kamay Bay on the southern coast of Australia was once a rich area teeming with flora and fauna, a place of a such variety that white Australians later named it Botany Bay. Cook landed here with the Endeavour in 1770 with the botanist Joseph Banks and the naturalist Daniel Solander on board. Banks and Solander collected a vast array of plants during their visit to the area, pressing the samples between the leaves of a book called Notes upon the twelve books of Paradise Lost.

Some of the specimens collected by Banks and Solander are going on display as part of an immersive exhibition at Kew Gardens this autumn, conceived by the artist Jan Hendrix in his first solo UK show. Hendrix’s work straddles the line between art and architecture, taking nature and man’s impact on the natural world as his focus. At the centre of this exhibition there will be a mirrored pavilion decorated with intricate metal filigree, inspired by two plants named after Banks and Solander. There will also be a vast monochrome tapestry, inspired by the Australian landscape and the ever present threat of wild fires that plagues its wildlife.

Kamay Bay is now home to an airport and an oil depot – no longer the rich paradise it once was and no longer home to the indigenous people who knew it best. It is one of countless cautionary tales that must be heeded. What this exhibition will aim to do, through glass, silver and tapestry, is celebrate the beauty of the area, while commenting on the fragility of the natural world.



The ticket price for this exhibition is included with your entry to the gardens.