Additional artists and Programming Announced
PRESS RELEASE, 5 December 2024
Embankment Galleries
Tickets on-sale now
www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/soil
To celebrate World Soil Day, Somerset House announces new artists, additional details of contributing works, new digital programme, and an expansive public programme as part of its landmark exhibition, SOIL: The World at Our Feet, which opens on 23 January 2025 in the Embankment Galleries. Inviting the audience to think about soil as much more than just dirt, this exhibition seeks to unlock the secrets of soil, emphasising how it is the priceless foundation of all life on Earth, and celebrating the everyday encounters that most of us don’t typically realise come from the soil.
This exhibition will also mark the launch of Somerset House at 25 – a milestone year as we mark our coming of age as the home of cultural innovators.
SOIL is co-curated by The Land Gardeners, Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy; curator and writer May Rosenthal Sloan and Claire Catterall, Senior Curator at Somerset House.
Bringing together thinkers, filmmakers, global and local artists, scientists and activists, SOIL is presented across three main sections: Life Below Ground, Life Above Ground and Hope. Topics around climate change, waste, land, justice, coupled with beauty and wonder, are all woven into the presented works and installations.
Co-Curator Claire Catterall, Senior Curator at Somerset House
“This exhibition will showcase how soil is the great interconnector, and yet how little we know about it. For too long human activities have had a detrimental effect on the health of our soil. Here, the artists are asking that we take a fresh look at this hugely important ecosystem which is living beneath our feet. Audiences can expect to see stunning artistic interventions and groundbreaking scientific practices that zooms our focus deep underground.”
Uncovering the hidden depths of soil through specially commissioned work, is Dutch artist Wim van Egmond, whose practice combines art with modern digital techniques, and who regularly collaborates with scientists. Presented in the magnificent double-height space of the exhibition, this installation is in collaboration with musician Michael Prime, who has recorded the sounds of the microbial life in soil. This work will take audiences deep into the dynamic and dramatic underworld, making the invisible visible through spectacular sound and micro-photography.
Also enchanted by the richness beneath our feet, artist France Bourély raises curiosity of this undiscovered world, showcasing beings that inhabit the soil through photography on a micron scale, whether that is an image of a dung beetle, an ant or a bee’s wing. Art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast explore the world of funghi and mycelium networks in their vast digital projection Fly Agaric I with a voiceover by Merlin Sheldrake. In an attempt to give ‘voice to the soil’, here audiences will also hear sound compositions from Miranda Whall who literally crawls across soil in her work.
There are strong ties between soil health, climate change, human health, nutrition and regenerative farming practices - questions around what it means to care for our soil and in turn for our environment, and each other. Fernando Laposse highlights this through Agave Regeneration, showcasing nature’s ability to provide real solutions to material waste and efficiency. Based on the impact of the North American Fair-Trade Agreement and use of agrochemicals on a village land in Mexico, Laposse works with local farmers using native plants such as corn and agave to create contemporary design collections. This is something that also resonates deeply with Asunción Molinos Gordo’s practice, which uses agricultural patterns on the land to measure wider socioeconomic and ecological impacts – as presented in Ghost Agriculture - visual geometry of the Nile’s valley in Egypt. As Above So Below is a new commission with Semantica (Jemma Foster and Camilla French) and Juan Cortés, inviting visitors to explore the global agri-business and how community action can return soil and ecologies to health.
The story of humanity’s impact on Earth and the intersection of biography and history is explored through emotive and thought-provoking pieces such as Unlearn the Plantation by Annalee Davis. It draws on intimate knowledge of the former sugar plantation in Barbados where she lives and works. Here, the soil holds memories of extractive colonial violence inflicted both on enslaved people and on the land they were forced to tend. Similarly, multidisciplinary artist jackie sumell is inspired by the lives of everyday people, and this is exemplified in the social art project, Solitary Gardens, which turns solitary confinement cells into garden beds that are the same size; a project which had its beginnings in an incredible 12-year collaboration with incarcerated human rights activist, the late Herman Wallace.
Entanglements between land and people is tenderly presented by Greek Palestinian filmmaker Theo Panagopoulos, whose intensely powerful film, The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing, questions the role of image-making as a tool of testimony when connected to people and the land.
The final section of exhibition points to a hopeful and powerful future, where soil has the potential to transform us and our planet. It represents a challenge but also an immense opportunity to build a sustainable future. There will also be a digital interactive work curated by The Land Gardeners and developed by creative studio HATO, consisting of a projected display of the globe, revealing stories of people around the world who are finding new, creative ways to understand and nourish the soil.
In this space, there is also a participatory installation commissioned for the exhibition from Something & Son (Andy Merritt and Paul Smyth who are residents of Somerset House) called Soil Kitchen, which will be a playful, hands-on space where audiences are encouraged to learn about soil through ‘recipes’, sculptures and stories, connecting the visitor with the wonder of soil using everyday language and objects.
Ending the exhibition with an intimate epilogue, is filmmaker Asad Raza, who charts his soil-making endeavour with his young daughter in film excerpt Ge, introducing the audience to the idea of creating "neo-soil" from scratch using everyday materials found on our doorsteps.
With SOIL, Somerset House gives visitors the creative space to think more deeply about soil’s vital and dramatic role in sustaining life on Earth, now and in the future.
Co-curators The Land Gardeners, Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy said:
“This exhibition is about the interconnection of soil and all life. Soil cannot be seen in isolation. It is connected with everything – from seeds, to roots to plants to animals to humans and to the planets. Soil is life below ground and sustains life above ground. We are taking people on a journey to understand the wonder of soil, how we have used it and abused it but how there are signs of hope that if we respect it and work with it we can save life on this planet.”
Co-curator May Rosenthal Sloan said:
“SOIL is anchored at the intersection of activism, education and creative practices. The artists included hope to inspire awe and optimism in those willing to dig below the surface of a world they only thought they knew. We are all impacted by the future of soil and as such it is crucial that there is a diversity of voices included in the conversation about how we care for this magic, but often neglected substance and all the relationships implicated in its health”
Participating artists and creative practitioners include: Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Anya Gallaccio, Ana Mendieta, Annalee Davis, Asad Raza, Asunción Molinos Gordo, Clare Richardson, Daro Montag, Diana Scherer, Eve Tagny, Fatima Alaiwat, Fernando Laposse, France Bourély, Freddie Yauner, Harun Morrison & Paul Granjon, herman de vries, Howard Sooley, jackie sumell, Jim Richardson, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Jo Pearl, Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck, Julia Norton, Ken Griffiths, Kim Norton, Lauren Gault, Maeve Brennan, Marguerite Humeau, Mariana Heilmann, Marshmallow Laser Feast, Michael Landy, Merlin Sheldrake, Michael Prime, Mike Perry, Miranda Whall, Sam Williams, Semantica (Jemma Foster and Camilla French) with Juan Cortés, Something & Son, Theo Panagopoulos, Tim Cockerill and Elze Hesse, Vivien Sansour, Wim van Egmond.
PUBLIC PROGRAMME
www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/soil/soil-events
The SOIL Public Programme is an expansive series of events and activities uncovering all the different properties, meanings, and possibilities that soil holds. The programme has three key moments, along with standalone events that will feature an array of contributors across the arts, environmentalism, agriculture, policy and many more.
The public programme is presented with support from Gaia Art Foundation and the World Living Soils Forum by Moët Hennessy.
INTUITIONS FOR SOIL
Panel Discussion
Thursday 30 January, 18.00 – 20.00
Screening Room
https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/soil/soil-events/intuitions-for-soil
Bringing together artists, regenerative growers and writers from the exhibition, this panel discussion sinks into the personal philosophies which guide and nurture our relationships with soil. The panel includes Lauren Gault, Poppy Okotcha and will be chaired by award-winning writer and contributor to the SOIL catalogue, Jennifer Kabat.
SOIL X SPRING
An Evening in Celebration of Soil and Taste
Monday 3 February 2025, 19.00
Spring Restaurant
£70 per person for three course meal and wine (including entry to the exhibition)
https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/soil/soil-events/soil-x-spring-evening-celebration-soil-and-taste
Join us for a special SOIL inspired evening in Spring. This is an opportunity to come together for a communal dining experience showcasing the difference that healthy soil makes to how our food tastes. You will have the opportunity to see the exhibition in Somerset House’s Embankment Galleries outside of public opening hours from 5.30pm. Guests will then gather in Spring at 7pm for a three-course meal with an introduction to the themes of the exhibition from co-curators, The Land Gardeners (Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy).
Familia Torres will pair wines for the evening with a menu specially created by one of Britain’s most respected and acclaimed chefs, Skye Gyngell, reflecting Spring’s thoughtful approach to food. Skye’s cooking celebrates seasonal produce, simplicity, and the importance of clean, healthy soil – an essential foundation for flavour and vitality in both food and wine, just as regenerative viticulture and biodiversity enhance the character of Familia Torres’ Spanish wines.
With thanks to Fern Verrow and Heckfield Home Farm for their biodynamic produce.
FEBRUARY HALF-TERM
17-23 February (everyday from 11am)
https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/soil/soil-events/february-half-term
Visit SOIL this February Half Term for a playful range of activities exploring all the different relationships we can have with our soil. There will be activities on offer for all families.
THE LIVING SOILS WORKSHOP
Saturday 1 March, 11.00 and 15.00
Embankment Galleries (Hope Lab)
https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/soil/soil-events/living-soils-workshop
Presented in collaboration with the World Living Soils Forum by Moët Hennessy, the Living Soils workshop is a learning game based on collective intelligence which aims to spread a common language on the functioning of soils and the issues linked to their preservation.
TASTING SOIL
Evenings at Somerset House with Farmacy
6 & 7 March 2025, 19.00
Café Petiole
www.instagram.com/farmacyuk
With a two-night residency at Somerset House's Café Petiole, Farmacy invites its community to taste the exhibition. Chef Johnnie Collins presents a low intervention hyper-seasonal menu to complement the sensorial exploration of SOIL. As animals, we have the ability to discern nutrient variation in food through extremely sophisticated bio-instruments called nose and tongue. These organs orient us towards the qualities of the ecosystems and soils in which our food comes to life. This is well known in the world of wine and applies no less to food. Join Farmacy in a feast engineered to connect your inner landscape back to the outer landscapes.
SOIL PROTAGANISTA
Film Screening + Panel Discussion
Thursday 13 March, 18.00-20.00
Screening Room
https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/soil/soil-events/soil-protaganista
An evening showcase of artist films where soil takes centre stage as a captivating other character, revealing its omnipresence and versatile nature. Each filmmaker imposes their own interpretation of soil, ultimately revealing soil as a vessel full of endless possibilities.
SKETCHING WITH SOIL WITH LUCY MAYES
Saturday 22 March, 14.00 – 16.00
Embankment Galleries (Hope Lab)
https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/soil/soil-events/sketching-soil-lucy-mayes
Join artist and pigment maker Lucy Mayes for an immersive workshop in exploring the connection between soil ecology and art. In this session, you'll gain hands-on experience in making pastels and leave with your own set of earth-derived drawing tools, deepening your appreciation for the artistic and ecological potential of soil.
(UN)EARTHING SOIL - A DAY OF EXPLORATION
Friday 4 April, 10.00-18.00
Portico Room
https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/soil/soil-events/unearthing-soil
Across the world, stories of humankind’s creation were born from soil. It is the giver of life, an abundant universe within a universe full of possibilities. This symposium explores how we can learn from the diverse rhizomatic nature of soil to rethink and reconnect with the land, others and ourselves. Designer and artist, Ling Tan, will also present a performative lecture on her work Low Carbon Chinatown (2021 – present) and Taking Root (2022).
Presented in collaboration with Gaia Art Foundation and the World Living Soils Forum by Moët Hennessy, the day will be centred around the following sessions:
Tending to the Earth’s cycles – an exploration into Gaia Theory, eco-burials and regenerative farming and how they work with natural cycles.
Nurturing Urban Soils – focussing on London’s community gardening, urban green policy and guerilla activism.
Extending our thinking on food systems – looking at microbes, regenerative farming, artistic interventions and zero-waste initiatives.
Building blocks – looking at the material potential of soil across the fashion, architecture and construction industries.
SPRING FAIR
Saturday 5 April, 14.00-20.00
East Wing
https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/soil/soil-events/spring-fair
The Spring Fair is a communing event platforming the real-world initiatives that deal head on with climate change. Inspired by a village fair, this event aims to draw on Spring’s symbolism to leave audiences feeling renewed and refreshed in their hope for the future of soil. The day will also feature artist talks, screenings and performance.
There will be stalls from Somerset House’s Creative Community including Biofonic, Notgroundbreaking, Wildsmith Skin, Volans, Materra, Julie’s Bicycle, Katya Bryskina, Hubbub, as well external contributors such as Farmacy, Jamie’s Farm and Freddie Yauner.
Victoria Embankment Gardens
The Land Gardeners have worked with the Grounds Maintenance Team at Westminster City Council to design and deliver a new bedding area in the historic Grade II listed Victoria Embankment Gardens by Embankment Station. The planting scheme uses green manures and demonstrates themes from the exhibition in a tangible way. This planting scheme will be maintained throughout 2025 to allow visitors to see the changes in growth and colour across the seasons.
SOIL Digital Programme
Developed in response to the exhibition, the digital programme will feature a short film documentary and three-part podcast series presented on Channel, Somerset House’s online curated space for art, ideas and the artistic process.
Soil Documentary
In this 15-minute documentary, we’ll follow five artists as they explore humanity’s relationship with the soil beneath our feet. The film starts in the Netherlands with photographer Wim Van Egmond, unveiling the beautiful and surreal microscopic networks constantly forming in the tiniest pieces of soil. Artist Miranda Whall then takes us to the Cambrian mountains in Wales – demonstrating how she uses temperature and moisture data from soil to give the land a voice. Travelling to the other side of the world, Mexican designer Fernando Laposse shows us how returning to ancient methods of farming can not only help rejuvenate our crops, but also the communities around them. Next stop is London, where we expand our senses, delving into spiritual ecology and geological time with Fatima Alaiwat. And lastly, we arrive at Somerset House with Makerversity founders, Something & Son’s, who invite us to SOIL Kitchen where they’re breaking down soil to its basic ingredients through sculpture.
SOIL: Common Ground
A three-part podcast series exploring what soil can teach us about being human, through the lens of art.
Across three episodes, presenter and Somerset House Studios artist Shenece Oretha traces the life cycle of soil, from its foundational role at the beginning of life with artist Asad Raza, through to its manifestation as one of the earliest creative materials, with ceramist and writer Jennifer Lucy Allan. We hear from artists Annalee Davis and Lauren Gault on the ways soil bears witness to both the violence of colonialism and our links to deep time before exploring decay and the regenerative powers of soil in our final episode, with the work of artist Mohamed Salah and radical undertaker Rupert Callender.
The Somerset House Podcast is available via Channel, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Relaxed Sessions
There will be two relaxed sessions for anyone who would like to explore SOIL in a calm and comfortable environment, including people with autism and other neurodivergent needs, as well as their siblings, families and carers.
These will be held on Friday 30 January 10.00 – 11.00 and Saturday 8 March 18.30 – 20.00 click here for details.
Upgrade Yourself
Thursday 27 March, 18.00 – 22.00
Our free late event for 18–30-year-olds, invites aspiring creatives to explore the themes of the exhibition. Workshops and talks will focus on sustainability and holistic practices, such as making natural dye, block printing, and using salt in artmaking.
SOIL Catalogue
The exhibition will be accompanied by an illustrated publication featuring texts by The Land Gardeners and May Rosenthal Sloan, as well as contributions from writers including Jennifer Kabat, Nicole Masters, Dave Goulson and Claire Ratinon. Design by Hato.
Young Persons Guide
This guide will be available as a handout at the ticket desk, or downloadable from the exhibition website. The guide is designed by Fam Studio and supported by the Nadezda Foundation, allowing young visitors aged 4-11 to explore the exhibition with their families and providing activities to further connect with soil.
Exhibition Design
SpaceBroth 3D designers are developing the exhibition design, with a focus on incorporating compostable elements throughout the build, with creative studio Hato commissioned for 2D design as well as the exhibition catalogue.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT AND THANKS
Familia Torres is official wine partner for the exhibition with The Vine Strategy Group.
The Nadezda Foundation is kindly supporting our young people’s guide to the exhibition. With thanks to The Finnis Scott Foundation towards the In-Focus Zones and Westminster City Council towards the exhibition.
We are grateful to our Soil Champions, including Agreena, Daylesford Organic, Farmacy London, Greenwood Place, and Studio Egret West.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Dates: 23 January – 13 April 2025
Tickets: on sale here
Press enquiries: Sahar.Beyad@somersethouse.org.uk // press@somersethouse.org.uk
Press images: High-res images here
Website: www.somersethouse.org.uk
Somerset House Facebook: www.facebook.com/SomersetHouse
Somerset House Twitter & Instagram: @SomersetHouse
ABOUT SOMERSET HOUSE
Step Inside, Think Outside
As the home of cultural innovators, Somerset House is a site of origination, with a cultural programme offering alternative perspectives on the biggest issues of our time. In 2025, Somerset House celebrates its 25th birthday, marking its extraordinary transformation to one of London’s best loved cultural spaces and home to one of the largest creative communities in the UK. To mark this milestone, there will be a special year of artistic innovation featuring genre-defying exhibitions, new commissions and events bringing audiences closer to the range of cross-disciplinary work from our unrivalled resident creative community, cementing Somerset House as a leading international arts destination.
From our historic site in the heart of London, we work globally across art, creativity, business, and non-profit, nurturing new talent, methods and technologies. Our resident community of creative enterprises, arts organisations, artists and makers, makes us a centre of ideas, with most of our programme home-grown. We sit at the meeting point of artistic and social innovation, bringing worlds and minds together to create surprising and often magical results. Our spirit of constant curiosity and counter perspective is integral to our history and key to our future.
Drawing from Somerset House’s unique resident community, the digital platform will showcase a rolling programme of exclusive commissions, documentaries, films, podcasts, talks, interactive works and editorial content. Channel’s content has been created with accessibility in mind and will provide alternative ways of presenting information such as subtitles and transcripts.
ABOUT THE LAND GARDENERS
Henrietta Courtauld and Bridget Elworthy established The Land Gardeners to research plant and soil health through growing, cutting and designing. The mission of The Land Gardeners is to work with gardeners and farmers to improve the health of our land – creating beautiful, healthy plants, gardens, and farms brimming with biodiversity and life – all founded on healthy soil.
The Land Gardeners ran an organic cut flower business from their garden in Oxfordshire, they design gardens, and they make and sell microbial compost to gardeners and farmers. They have written three books – their latest book, "The Land Gardeners Soil to Table" which reflects their overriding passion for the link between soil health and the food we eat. They are collaborating with the Organic Research Centre on “Feed the Soil” project running farm-scale trials of non-chemical ways of feeding the soils and have recently launched their on-line educational platform SOIL to educate and empower farmers, growers and gardeners https://www.thelandgardeners.com
ABOUT MAY ROSENTHAL SLOAN
May Rosenthal Sloan is a Glasgow-based, London-bred curator, writer and educator. She co-curated the V&A exhibition Food: Bigger than the Plate (2019) and was formerly a lecturer in Modern American History at the University of Glasgow. Her research interests include food and food systems, storytelling and constructions of identity, and the role of design and art in everyday life.