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View the From Garden to Un-garden brochure in PDF
Jennifer Dickson
Bodnant Gardens, Northern Wales
Jennifer Dickson
Orange Botanic Gardens, Australia
Jennifer Dickson
Van Dusen Gardens, Vancouver
Jennifer Dickson
Yuulong Arboretum, Dubbo, Australia
Jennifer Dickson
Detail, Van Dusen Gardens, Vancouver
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As an artist and photographer, Jennifer Dickson has
been documenting gardens since 1979. She has photographed
in Canada, the U.S., England, Wales, France,
Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Morocco. The symbol
of the garden as a representation of paradise is central
to her work as an artist. In recent journeys, she has
become increasingly aware of both the wounds inflicted
by history on the landscape, and the positive and negative
results of ecological responsibility and irresponsibility.
This is her eighth lecture series for the Ottawa
Art Gallery.
Lecture 1 | Monday 6 February at 7:30 pm
From Marrakech to the Alhambra:
The Influence of the Islamic Garden in Europe
The Muslim conquest of Spain from 711 to 714 AD
brought a knowledge of irrigation and horticultural
science. First, we will look at the prototypical enclosed
Islamic paradeizo garden in Morocco in Rabat and Marrakech.
Then we will see the Islamic garden attributes
of order, symbolic geometry and enclosure in Spanish
gardens in Cordoba, Seville and Granada. The waterguzzling
lawn of Western gardens is replaced by a sonic
and poetic use of water in relation to architectural
structure. Beds of flowers are replaced by portable potted
plants. This makes the Islamic concept of gardens
extremely relevant to modern ecologically sensitive
garden design.
Lecture 2 | Monday 13 February at 7:30 pm
Magic and Majesty:
Gardens of Northern Wales
The landscape of Wales with the towering peaks of
Snowdonia mantled in clouds seems unsuited to the
gentler art of gardening. Yet Northern Wales possesses
a number of gardens of singular beauty. Powis Castle,
Italianate in site and concept, is one of the most romantic border castles with its terraces and ancient yew
hedges. Bodnant is the most spectacular from a botanic
point of view, with its curved laburnum tunnel and valley
garden with Himalayan rhododendrons and camellias.
Penrhyn Castle, Plas Newydd and Plas Brondanw
juxtapose architectural fantasy with surrounding gardens,
each of a unique character. The naturalization of
abandoned industrial sites and the remoteness of Wales
have resulted in its ecological renewal.
Lecture 3 | Monday 20 February at 7:30 pm
Our Home and Native Land:
The Evolving Gardens of Canada
In Canada, our gardens evolved from the survival vegetable
gardens of the First Nations, through the development
of gardens in abandoned industrial sites to
the lavish Eurocentric gardens of the nouveau riche. Only recently has a less formal style of garden-making
emerged, which is more in keeping with our environmental
and climatic realities. This lecture presents conservation
sites as gardens, looks at the rejuvenation of
botanic gardens from Vancouver to Montreal and the innovative concepts of some smaller private gardens
in Ontario and Quebec as we rethink our approach to
garden design.
Lecture 4 | Monday 27 February at 7:30 pm
Bottle Trees and Banksia:
Gardens of Eastern Australia
Jennifer Dickson recently returned from her second
visit to Australia, where she photographed public botanic
gardens and unusual private gardens in which the emphasis
is on native species. Australians have become
extremely sensitive to the finite nature of their water
supply. This is epitomized in private gardens such as
Karkalla in Sorrento, on the Mornington Peninsula,
Victoria. Geelong botanic gardens are in transition, as
exotic foreign plants are being replaced by several areas
focussing on indigenous species. We will visit a range of
botanic gardens from Cairns to Sydney and Melbourne.
Registration
Joanne Rycaj Guillemette
Administrative Coordinator
(613) 233-8699 x 221
info@ottawaartgallery.ca
Information
Véronique Couillard
Public Programs Coordinator
(613) 233-8699 x 228
public@ottawaartgallery.ca
Sponsors
Our sincere thanks to our sponsors.
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