Grubber x Baesianz presents Roots, a holistic healing environment at Art Hub Studios in Deptford. The space houses an exhibition and events series which explores nature, its healing qualities and the need to decolonise horticulture through the work and voices of Asian artists and communities.
 

The programme's title Roots draws inspiration from two axes that reflect the collaboration between its parent collectives: Grubber and Baesianz. On the one hand, Roots can be applied to Grubber’s botanical initiative whereby it takes the meaning of a plant’s underground organ. On the other hand, Roots responds to the Baesianz mission of amplifying the roots and creative potential of one’s Asian origin and celebrating the featured artists and their heritage. Together, these two collectives bring forth underexposed non-Western narratives towards approaching the natural world and its phenomena through this exhibition and events series.

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Roots also looks to engage with Asian communities around the world through multiple vehicles including our online collaboration with NOWNESS Asia. April Lin’s film Tending to Ta is a full-length feature film exploring the infinite unfolding potential that exists within the nature of identity, commissioned by Obsidian Coast. As part of the exhibition, NOWNESS Asia will be premiering a 5-minute excerpt of the film as a teaser to the full-length piece. The physical exhibition at Art Hub Studios will host a 2D visual installation of Tending to Ta which acts as a gateway into the full work.

The 5-minute excerpt will be premiered as part of NOWNESS Asia’s nature series and can be viewed here.

Screening at the exhibition will also be the short film Nature Trip: What are you growing?, an extension of Grubber’s popular Nature Trips video series. Nature Trips brings together friends of Grubber from around the world to guide viewers on a journey through the landscapes and flora of their local surroundings via Instagram stories. The short film however takes a much more intimate approach, allowing the audience to be voyeurs in conversations between various participants and their friends and family. Video calls are the chosen medium for participants speaking from locations around the world as they give the viewers a tour of their gardens. One participant, the London-based Jen Quan, calls her mother in Thailand to explore what she’s growing, making space for conversation and connections through nature that they may never have considered before.

Artists:

Karen Bolilia

Nash Cruz

Nina Durban

Mano Gonzales

King-Wey Hii-Ko

Dashti Jahfar

Melissa Kitty Jarram

Peng Jiahao

Sami Kimberley

April Lin

Azura Lovisa

Akshay Mahajan

Charlotte Mei

Annie Mackinnon

Emily Murayama

Zehra Nazli

Jennifer Quan

Gaurab Takali

Hannah Thomas Uose

Ivy Vo

Mildred Cheng Hoi Yan

Petit Oiseau

Fuji Flow

Savannah Sinhal 

Sophie Huilin Walker

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