Rooting: Ecology, Extraction and Environmental Emergencies in the University’s Art Collection

Rooting takes the University’s 350-year-old Art Collection as its focus, and features historic and contemporary artworks that consider environment, ecology, as well as the entangled relationship between economic and colonial legacies and the climate crisis. The display showcases a range of artforms by over 30 different artists acquired by the University and currently used to support and enhance research and learning. As part of the institution’s cultural heritage, the artworks displayed in the exhibition highlights some University’s histories in relation to these topics, as well as offering reflections on the urgency for individual and collective action.

The artists featured in the exhibition are: Thomas Abercromby, Ludolf Backhuyzen, Zygmunt Bukowski, Cooking Sections, Joan Eardley, Ruth Ewan, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Jessica Gasson, Giulia Gentili, Clarissa Gurd, Ilana Halperin, Anthony Hatwell, Kasey Hou, Kurt Jackson, Daisy Lafarge, Hew Locke, Duncan MacGregor-Whyte, George Mackie, Thomas Herbert Maguire, Stephanie Mann, Valentina Lobos Muñoz, Katie Paterson, Francis Rodgers, William Shiels, Lucy Skaer, Agnes Sim, Jan van der Heyden, Alberta Whittle, Ffion Williams and Aleksander Zyw.