Ash Archive

18 January - 4 October 2018
co-curated with Rose Thompson

The Ash Archive was a collaboration between the University of Kent and The Ash Project, it toured to five galleries across Kent, Studio Three Gallery, Jarman Building, Limbo Gallery, Brewery Tap Gallery, Halpern Gallery and Kaleidescope Gallery.

The Ash Archive is an exhibition that was presented five times as part of The Ash Project, in Canterbury, Margate, Chatham, Folkestone and Sevenoaks. The exhibition examined the human relationship with the ash tree and woodlands. Reflecting on the uncertain future of the ash tree, the exhibition brings together works by artists, designers and local makers which explore our dynamic and complex relationship with the life and death of the natural world

The Ash Archive includes works by Ackroyd & Harvey, Colin Booth, Hannah Brown, Adam Chodzko, Sebastian Cox, French & Mottershead, Magz Hall, Max Lamb, David Nash, Autumn Richardson & Richard Skelton and Sheaf + Barley. We worked with artists on a series of commissions and were lucky to be offered the work of artists such as David Nash and Autumn Richardson & Richard Skelton and based our archive of objects on a collection made from ash wood Rob Penn’s incredible book “The Man Who Made Things Out of Trees.” In addition members of the public were invited to contribute to the archive and we received many beautiful memories, poems, stories and objects made from our relationships to ash trees.

The Ash Project is an urgent cultural response to this devastating loss of one of Europes most loved species of tree.