On the Necessity of Gardening: An ABC of Art, Botany and Cultivation

Synopsis

On the Necessity of Gardening explores the garden as both a physical space and a powerful cultural metaphor. Through essays, artworks, and an expansive alphabetical reader, the book traces how gardens have been imagined across history—from medieval symbols of paradise and fertility to expressions of political power, and, today, as sites for rethinking humanity's relationship with the natural world in the age of climate crisis.

Bringing together artists, writers, poets, and thinkers, this beautifully illustrated collection considers gardening as an act of care, resistance, imagination, and ecological responsibility. Richly interdisciplinary, On the Necessity of Gardening invites readers to see the garden not simply as a cultivated landscape, but as a reflection of how we choose to live with one another and with the earth.

About the Book

Published by Valiz, On the Necessity of Gardening gathers an international range of contributors from the fields of contemporary art, literature, philosophy, ecology, and landscape studies. Combining critical essays with an innovative abecedary, the book offers a wide-ranging exploration of gardens as spaces of history, politics, beauty, and environmental thought.

Publisher
Valiz

Publication Date
2023

Format
Paperback

Pages
320

Subjects
Art · Gardening · Ecology · Cultural Criticism · Art History

ISBN
9789493246003