Inside Out: The Garden

01:00pm - 05:00pm, Sat 03 Aug 2024

Take part in creative workshops inspired by Siân Davey's The Garden

Colour photograph of a person with an outstretched arm, reaching up to grab a leaf in the middle of a garden

Inside Out: The Garden

1:00pm, Sat 03 Aug 2024

Take part in creative workshops inspired by Siân Davey's The Garden

Take part in one of two different creative workshops – poetry and plant sculpture – that aim to bring people together, connect and be inspired by Siân Davey's The Garden.

Inside Out is a free and inclusive summer festival, produced by Westminster City Council and partners, that brings our city’s world-renowned arts, entertainment and culture into the streets and open spaces of Westminster for all to enjoy.

Book for the workshops below. Please note the plant sculpture workshops are fully booked!

Book your free Inside Out: The Garden workshops

Inside Out: The Garden - Poetry Workshops - Saturday 3 August

Poems can be found everywhere. For these 90-minute workshops, we’ll take The Garden as our inspiration and develop poems through a wide range of fun and playful approaches. These sessions will support you to write freely and discover what you want to say through a series of expansive and generative writing exercises, unusual prompts, guided tasks and using contemporary poems as inspiration. All levels are welcome in this low pressure, inclusive workshop with poet and author Cecilia Knapp.

Book your free Inside Out: The Garden workshops

Inside Out: The Garden - Plant Sculpture Workshops - Saturday 3 August

Experiment with the unique sculptural properties of different plants and flowers in this hands-on workshop. Participants will be encouraged to observe, interact and create with the structural interest that plants provide whilst engaging with the potential of nature to bring joy in the way that it has shaped Siân Davey’s photographic project The Garden. Each participant will create a small sculpture to take home or gift. Led by Cynthia Fan, this free workshop is open to all ages.

Workshop artist biographies

Cecilia Knapp

Cecilia Knapp was the Young People’s Laureate for London 2020/2021. She was shortlisted for the 2022 Forward prize for best single poem. Her collection Peach Pig is published by Corsair. Her novel Little Boxes is published by The Borough Press. She teaches creative writing at City Lit and is the lead tutor for The Roundhouse Poetry Collective.

Cynthia Fan

Cynthia Fan is an artist, plant scientist and curator based in London. Her interdisciplinary practice stems from a fascination with plant morphological development. Last year, she completed her doctorate in plant molecular science at the University of Edinburgh/Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh. She has recently taken up the position of curator and coordinator at Ensō House, a newly established creative studio located behind Tate Modern that aims to showcase artists whose works are in conversation with nature. She is also one half of the collaborative project Pear_ed, with artist and landscaper, Hayden Malan.

About The Garden:

Starting in 2020, British photographer Siân Davey transformed her abandoned garden over three summers into a vibrant space, filled with wildflowers, birdsong and people.

Together with her son, Luke, Davey cultivated a space rooted in love. They researched native flowers and encouraged biodiversity, sourcing seeds and plants locally.

When the flowers bloomed, they called in the community. Everyone had a place in The Garden; the mothers and daughters, the lonely, the marginalised, lovers, the traumatised and heartbroken and those that had concealed a lifetime of shame. The space became an expression of yearning, defiance, joy and interconnectedness.

Discover works from Siân Davey’s The Garden in a free outdoor exhibition in the Soho Photography Quarter just outside the Gallery.

Supported by Westminster City Council as part of its Inside Out festival

By booking for this event, you agree to The Photographers' Gallery's Terms & Conditions.