ROTTERDAM.- The exhibition Garden Futures, which is now on show at the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, explores the history and future of the modern garden. Co-curator Maria Heinrich and spatial designer Frank Bruggeman set up the exhibition as a garden in itself. Through four "chapters" - The Garden as a World, Garden Politics, Testing Grounds, and The World as a Garden – it traces our evolving relationship with gardens, explores the origins of the contemporary garden, and searches for new models.

The exhibition features works gardens by designers and artists such as Roberto Burle Marx, Jamaica Kincaid, Mien Ruys, Piet Oudolf and Derek Jarman, supplemented with works from the archive of garden and landscape designer Michael van Gessel and local, nature-inclusive designs.

Several Rotterdam examples are also included: the garden suburb of Vreewijk, the Island of Brienenoord tidal park, the community garden Wijktuin Ommoord, the Hofbogenpark and the Nieuwe Tuin. Artist Ada Patterson has created a work of art especially for this exhibition, providing a critical take on the colonial relationship of gardens and history in Rotterdam.

Personal, political and commercial ideals

Garden Futures shows the garden as a personal refuge, where people and nature live together in harmony, but also as a reflection of political and commercial agendas. One can see this when considering who owns a garden, how much space there is for gardens in cities, vegetable gardens as a form of self-sufficiency and food security, the historic colonial trade in flowers and plants, and the influence of garden tool and patio furniture manufacturers on our tastes.

The garden as a testing ground

As well as being an idyllic retreat, the garden is also a testing ground for new ideas and experiments. Increasingly, we see gardens as part of larger ecological systems, rather than demarcated pieces of land. Designers are experimenting in the garden with alternative solutions for biodiversity, social justice and a sustainable future. The exhibition features examples of indoor gardens, vertical forests, community gardens, floating gardens, school gardens, rooftop greenhouses, food forests, urban farms and forest gardens.

More information

Garden Futures will be on display at the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam until 13 April 2025. During this term Nieuwe Instituut will organize various public programs and workshops related to the exhibition, including lectures, a children’s book club, and various workshops, in collaboration with several partners.

Garden Futures was developed in collaboration with the Vitra Design Museum and the Wüstenrot Foundation for culture and heritage, and previously shown at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany. The original exhibition was designed by the Italian design studio Formafantasma.