A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies Sculpture Unveiling
We are proud to announce that the Grounding Project, which includes refugees from some of the most conflicted areas in the world, unveiled a beautiful butterfly sculpture at Roots and Shoots for World Refugee Day (20 June 2024), with words from Judy Ling Wong CBE of the Black Environmental Network and Shivani Patel of the Chelsea Physic Garden. The Grounding Project is a horticultural therapy programme run by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust for refugees and asylum seekers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, with the programme calling Roots and Shoots home for over 7 years.
Read more about the Grounding Project
The Kaleidoscope of Butterflies project has been created with the help of experts from national charity Butterfly Conservation. It is part of Big City Butterflies, launched in May 2021 with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which shows people across London's inner boroughs the value of butterflies and moths and how to attract and help them even in the heart of the city. It comes after a series of collaborations between Roots and Shoots and the Big City Butterflies project, including butterfly identification sessions at our community events, and habitat management education with our staff so we can better support butterflies and moths in our gardens.
"This moving work of art tells a story about how all living things move, migrate, evolve and grow, and we feel really honoured to have been involved in the project. We are facing a nature and climate crisis but the potential repercussions for people across the globe could be worryingly similar to the impacts of war and tyranny. This sculpture reminds us of the power of caring for other humans and all living things."
Butterfly Conservation Head of Engagement Kate Merry
“The theme of World Refugee Day this year is centred around a sense of home, about finding a place where we feel safe and are welcomed. For our project, we have been fortunate to find a home at Roots and Shoots, a place where we have built a community and can grow together.”
Grounding Project psychotherapist, Myriam Sarens
With many butterflies and moths migrating hundreds of miles to and from breeding grounds each year, the theme also reflects the difficult journeys the refugee artists themselves have made.
The Kaleidoscope of Butterflies project began in March when the Grounding group visited the Horniman Museum’s tropical butterfly house for inspiration. Butterfly Conservation ran classes for the group on lepidopteran diversity and ecology, with Roots and Shoots' gardener Sarah Wilson (who is also a trained artist and jeweller), and Communications Officer Rosie Danford-Phillips (who is also a trained designer) ran a series of sculpture-making workshops from initial design to copper shaping, spray painting and blacksmithing, with support from artists Adaesi Ukairo, Nanami Takeuchi and the Urban Crafts Foundation.
The group finished the project by staking each of their carefully crafted butterflies into the ground of the Wild Garden amongst the pollinator flower beds. The final creation emulates a cloud of colourful painted copper butterflies and celebrates the beauty of migration, caring for one another and the planet.
"This innovative project with Butterfly Conservation and the Grounding Project illustrates the international significance of butterflies to people from all over the world, showing that the impact of nature has meaning, and is healing, for all.""
Roots and Shoots Director Linda Phillips MBE AoH
See the sculpture, which is a permanent addition to the gardens, at your next visit to Roots and Shoots.
