For centuries, the garden has been considered a mirror of society, a microcosm in which the broader relationships between nature and culture play out on a small scale. From this long cultural tradition also arises a call for a new awareness of our relationship with the Earth. On the Necessity of Gardening tells the story of the garden as a rich source of inspiration. Throughout the centuries, artists, writers, poets, and thinkers have described, depicted, and designed the garden in a variety of ways. In medieval art, the garden was a reflection of paradise, a place of harmony and fertility, sheltered from worldly troubles.

However, the garden is not merely a neutral space intended solely for personal pastime; it is a place where the world manifests itself and where the relationship between culture and nature is expressed. In the 18th century, this image changed: the garden became a symbol of worldly power and politics. The Anthropocene, the era in which humankind completely dominates nature with disastrous consequences, compels us to radically rethink the role we have assigned to nature in recent decades.

There is a renewed interest in the theme of the garden among contemporary creators. It is not a romantic yearning that drives them, but rather a call for a new awareness of our relationship with the earth, connecting different fields of activity in landscape, art, and culture. Through numerous essays and an extensive glossary, *On the Necessity of Gardening* reflects on the garden as a metaphor for society, exploring concepts such as botanomania and the capitalocene, from guerrilla gardening to queer ecology and the Zen garden.

• It's not your average gardening book!
• Through the metaphor of gardening, this book offers a vision of the convergence of nature and culture, ecology, climate and environmental care, with themes such as Arcadia, Control, Ecofascism, Guerrilla Gardening, Queer Ecology.

On the Necessity of Gardening is being released in conjunction with the exhibition The Botanical Revolution, on the Need of Art and Gardening, which will be on view from September 11, 2021, to January 9, 2022, at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, Netherlands. The publication is not strictly an exhibition catalogue but rather stands as an independent project. Both the exhibition and the publication stem from Laurie Cluitmans' long-term research into the development of the historical, cultural, philosophical, and social significance of the garden in relation to our current lifestyle.

240 pages

24 x 32 cm

English