Open Cambridge: Living Landmasses – online talk

Date/Time
Date(s) - 10 September 2021
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm


Join us for this online talk taking a microscopic view of what is feeding all the plants around us; making seemingly invisible networks of mycorrhiza visible.

Date: 10.9.21

Time: 18.00-19.30

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi play a major role in ‘feeding’ plants the nutrients they need to grow. This event will provide a microscopic view of what is feeding all the plants around us; making these seemingly invisible networks visible. As part of ‘Open Cambridge’, this illustrated talk explores how the subterranean world is inspiring the artwork being developed by Lilah Fowler for the new community centre at the Meadows in Arbury/ King’s Hedges.

The talk is free however spaces must be prebooked.

To reserve a ticket please click here   

The Living Landmasses hoardings exhibition will be on display for the duration of Open Cambridge.

Living Landmasses Talk

Speakers include Jen McGaley, a plant scientist at Cambridge University, artist Lilah Fowler and artist & poet Alec Finlay, who will be joined by Resonance-Cambridge curator Clare Phillips. The event will be chaired by the New Hall Art Collection Assistant Curator Naomi Polonsky, please join us for a lively discussion on mycological science, lab processes and the new artwork for the Meadows. Alec Finlay is currently working on ‘The Sun Spoke’, a series of commissions for the new homes being built by the Cambridge Investment Partnership. Root samples will have be gathered by community groups from sites across Arbury and King’s Hedges. The samples will be taken to the Crop Science Centre, Cambridge University, where they will be stained with a dye and imaged under the microscope to produce micrographs of mycorrhizal fungal structures within the plant roots.

Details of how to join the online talk will be emailed to delegates with tickets prior to the event.

In conjunction with the illustrated talk will be a feature display on the hoardings at the Meadows of the locally gathered mycorrhizal images, which will also be available online at www.resoanance-cambridge.co.uk throughout Open Cambridge.

Meadows is part of Resonance-Cambridge, the public art programme commissioned by Cambridge Investment Partnership. An online display of the images will be available on the Resonance-Cambridge website during the Open Cambridge Festival. For further information visit: www.resonance-cambridge.co.uk/developments/meadows/

This event is being held as part of Open Cambridge 2021, which will take place from 10 – 19 September 2021.

For further information on Open Cambridge events please visit www.opencambridge.cam.ac.uk

Upcoming Events

No Events