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OUTREACH PROJECTS

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Lively Plant Cultures projects co-ordinated by the lead partner, Kew, and facilitated by museums and environment projects around the country are involving people in sharing their stories about plants. Activities include behind-the-scene access to museums and gardens, art and craft workshops, exhibitions and the introduction to computers and new technology.

During half term week in February young people can experience Plant Cultures in the climbers and creepers area at Kew Gardens. Easter activities include a garden trail centered on Kew's iconic Palm House where you can see many of the plants featured in the project, for instance mango, coconut and the Banyan tree.

Bradford Community Environment Project is involved in collecting local stories about people and plants and photographing the many places where South Asian plants are found in the city. Plant Cultures workshops for teachers at City Farm and the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, and a visit for a community group to Kew Gardens, inspired stories of plants grown and used in both South Asia and Britain.

Edited Extracts of stories already contributed to Plant Cultures:

"Chillies, cardamoms, garlic, ginger turmeric are all part of my ethnicity. The reason I say this is you cannot cook an Asian meal without using these three ingredients. So my kids may eat their fish and chips, they might like their pizzas but I've got to have these three ingredients in the home no matter what." Nussrat Mohammed, Bradford.

Janet Lloyd from Grimbsy visits Bradford for spices. "We've come from Grimsby, with my friend Nadine, to do our shopping. It's a long way - a 200 mile round trip for us! We do it every year to buy our year's supply of spices, black pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, garam masala. Then we look for fabrics and finish the day with a curry at the Mumtaz Paan House."

Seemberjit Kaur writes: "Coconut is actually tied on the bride's hands, on the wrists. It is part of the decoration on the wedding day but it can also be used for when the bride and groom come into the parents house the next day. He has to put two halves of a coconut on his wrists and try to keep the halves steady on his hands. Balancing the coconut is part of the culture and is to test his intelligence.

The Museum of London is working with the SUBCO South Asian Elders day Care Centre to produce artwork and stories featuring plants from Asia. Also sharing stories, recipes and remedies are the Coriander Gardening Club at Spitalfields City Farm, Harrow Women's' Yoga and Health Group and the Kobi Nazrul Centre.

Stories contributed to Plant Cultures will feature on the website as well as a museum trail at the Museum of Docklands which highlights the trading links between Britain and Asia.

Leicester Museums Services are working with Leicester communities and individuals to share their stories and knowledge of plants featured on Plant Cultures. A city trail will highlight many interesting areas such as Leicester's Botanical Gardens and Belgrave Gate - Leicester's Golden Mile.

National Museums Liverpool are facilitating a range of workshops and creative arts projects to inspire people to share their knowledge of plants that are important in British south Asian Culture. Workshop includes an introduction to using the Internet and creating digital artwork focused on plants and their uses. A city trail will highlight the city's trading heritage.

In all, around 1200 historic images will be accessible on the Plant Cultures website. Painting, prints, photographs and artefacts from important collections present a rich and vital picture of Asian life and plants and form a wonderful introduction to Indian art and handicrafts of the last 400 years.

From the British Library, jewel-like Mughal miniatures feature plants in religion, feasts, mythology and daily life.

Kew Gardens shows 18th century botanical painting, 19th century photographs and a wide variety of objects from its collections. From the Natural History Museum there are botanical prints and paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries, with exquisite objects from the Asian collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Images from the welcome Library put a special emphasis on medical history with European and Indian drawings, paintings and prints of South Asian Scenes.

PLANT CULTURES EDUCATION

The website provides a seamless introduction to may plants and related topics for learners of all ages. From April onwards, teachers will find useful tips and activities on how to use the site for teaching, while students from Key Stage 2 right through to undergraduate levels will find a depth of knowledge suitable for their individual interest and requirements.