The first exhibition in our new arts space, The Studio, explores our deep-rooted relationship with the natural world.

Artist Serena Korda has worked with a Collective of local community members to create an immersive, multi-sensory installation.

The exhibition features ceramic artworks dispensing scents inspired by the Horniman Gardens, and a soundscape based on the chemical processes occurring in plants and trees.

The exhibition also includes 100 objects from the Horniman’s anthropology collection, which have been curated by the Collective alongside Korda and Horniman staff.

The objects have been selected for the messages they carry about people’s spiritual and cultural relationship with plants and water. They include a dowsing stick from England, a statue of Mami Wata – an African deity accompanied by her divining snake, zoomorphic figurines from India, natural water containers, and an array of pipes, scent and incense holders from across the world.

The Studio is part of the Horniman’s wider anthropology redisplay to provide a platform for our social arts programme and will feature exhibitions and events created with artists, community partners and visitors.