20 WHAT’S ON
Ian GeorgesonBy STAFF REPORTER
EDINBURGH SCIENCE Festival runs from 1
to 16 April. It is aimed at giving everyone of any
age the chance to experiment.
The highlights here are aimed at having some
family fun.There are opportunities to perform a
surgery, dig up a dinosaur, build a wind turbine
and code your own robot at City Art Centre, or
you can get hands on at the National Museum
of Scotland with FutureFest, Experimental Life
and EarthFest interactive exhibitions, and the
festival fun continues with these activities
around Edinburgh.
Junior Reading Experiment (4-6 April) gives
sci-curious young minds a chance to meet
science authors while the Royal Botanic Garden
Edinburgh presents, among many others trails
and workshops, Frankenstein’s Plants: The
Revenge (14-16 April) where children design
their own herbarium specimen to take home,
and Spring in the Vegetable Garden (16 April)- all about growing your own food at home.
Taking to heart Greta Thunberg’s words
“No one is too small to make a difference”,
Dynamic Earth presents Use Your Voice
(1-16 April,) an exhibition about young
climate activists inspiring the next generation,
and explains the wonders of the weather in
Whatever the Weather (6 & 13 April) workshop
for children 1+.
Over at the Edinburgh Zoo, animal
enthusiasts learn all about our ancestors in
Primates Pop-Up (6-7 April) activity for all ages
and the recent discoveries at the Royal
Zoological Society of Scotland, followed by
breakfast and activities in Eggsperimental
Breakfast (1-2 & 15-16 April).
Out and about, audiences can visit Cherish:
Shaping Our Planet (23 March - 4 May)
photography exhibition on Portobello
Promenade, take part in Operation Sabotageescape room experience at the National
Museum of Flight (14-15 April), visit
Yellowcraig Beach in East Lothian to learn how
to identify and prepare wild vegetables and
seaweeds in a Guided Walk with Monica Wilde
(8 April), or pop by The Bayes Centre, Potterow,
for a chance to meet humanoid robots and hear
about how they can assist humans in Meet the
Robots (14 April).
For the rainy stay-at-home days, EdSciFest on
Demand is the perfect answer - a free online
resource full of engaging workshops, quizzes
and self-led trails.
http://www.sciencefestival.co.ukCULTURE • LITERATURE • EVENTS • MUSIC • MUSEUMS...
Edinburgh
becomes
a living
laboratory
The Edinburgh Science Festival gives everyone
of any age the chance to experiment
Exhibition delves into colonial roots
By PHYLLIS STEPHENA NEW EXHIBITION at Inverleith
House by Australian artist Keg de
Souza will highlight the colonial
legacy of plants when it opens
later this month. Initially trained
as an architect, Dr de Souza works
with temporary architecture and
the politics of food.
Shipping Roots will transform
Inverleith House into a series of
installations with the aim of
immersing all visitors in sound,
plants and play.
Dr De Souza enjoyed a
residency at The Royal Botanic
Garden Edinburgh last year
working with staff, including
archivists, to share the hidden
histories of three plant types
which linked the UK with India
and Australia.
The artist has previously had
successful exhibitions inIndonesia, Canada and Japan and
this is her first major exhibition in
the UK which will run as part of
Edinburgh Art Festival from 24
March until 27 August.
The stories relate the tales of
the plants to her own cultural
removal. Dr De Souza is of Goan
heritage, and the ancestral lands
there were colonised. She now
lives as a settler on unceded
Gadigal land in Sydney.
The exhibition is commissioned
for the Climate House programme
exploring how plants including
eucalyptus, prickly pear and many
seedlings which came to the UK
in sheep fleeces have moved
through the British Empire.
Prickly pear has an interesting
story to tell. Introduced as a
habitat for the cochineal insect it
spread rapidly. The importance of
the cochineal insect was that it
could be turned into a cochinealdye, to dye the British Redcoats
the colour of blood. The East India
Company's ventures with
cochineal were however a series
of "missteps and mishaps".
Keg de Souza said: “Having
research time in 2022 to explore
the libraries and herbarium at
Royal Botanic Edinburgh and to
work with the generous scientists
and archivists here has been
hugely rewarding. As I began to
explore the stories behind these
plants I discovered everything is
interrelated. I want Shipping
Roots to share this information
and trace some of these
connections whilst experiencing
the stories on different levels.
"Stories that are lesser heard,
highlighting some of the gaps in
the archives. A lot of my work
tries to highlight voices of
marginalised people, First Nations
narratives and colonised people,so I think the plants tell these and
the transformation of the gallery
is designed to do so in a multi-
sensory way engaging with
visitors of all ages.”
Head of Creative Programmes
at Royal Botanic Garden
Edinburgh, Emma Nicolson, said:
“Shipping Roots is a compelling
invitation to consider how the
introduction of plant material
impacts landscapes and lives in a
multitude of ways.
“This one-of-a-kind exhibition,
created in a curious multifaceted,
multisensory approach has
resulted in one of the most
rewarding projects we have had
the privilege of hosting here.”Keg de Souza: Shipping Roots
Fri 24 Mar – Sun 27 Aug, 2023
Open daily 10:30 – 17:
Admission free
http://www.rbge.org.ukKeg de
Souza