Garden
The Museum Magazine
Guest Editor & Contributor | 20 Contributors | 120 Pages | Issue 23 | August 2024 | Published by National Museum of Australia
Gardening has undergone a resurgence in recent years. Many people – old and young – return to the garden for restoration, to connect with nature and to grow their own food. In this issue of The Museum we looked out from the garden, taking in wonderful writing that explored gardens and their stories.
Working with the National Museum of Australia, I guest edited and commissioned Garden, issue 23 (2024) of The Museum magazine. We brought together many voices and perspectives on the history, collections, design and importance of Australian gardens.
Gardens occupy an important place for many museums. More than just exhibitions, museums have a much bigger life which includes their architecture, publications, public programs and garden spaces. An important part of this project was to reorientate how we think about museums to take in their gardens and outdoor spaces.
Gardens are places of work, change and growth. We all find something different in the garden. In this magazine 20 authors, designers and creatives came together to showcase different interpretations of the garden.
Stories took in deep time, First Nations perspectives, public space and even the potential of gardens to heal, all of these continuing an ongoing project to broaden our definition of gardens and our ongoing conversation about how we live on the land.
Contributors to the magazine included Margo Ngawa Neale, Carol Go-Sam, Richard Aitken, Lyndon Anderson, Sophie Cunningham, Tim Entwistle, Lesley Head, Fiona McMillan-Webster, Hannah Moloney, Martha Sear, Cass Urquhart and Richard Weller.
Healing plants from the Museum’s Kennedy Garden, illustrated by Cass Urquhart.
“In 2021–22 Australians bought more than 2.3 billion plants for their gardens. It’s a rising trend.”
The Garden issue was one of a suite of projects delivered as part of the National Museum of Australia’s White Family Senior Fellowship in Australian Garden History, 2023-2024. As well as Garden, the project delivered collection research, public programs and stories that sparked greater interest into museum gardens and outdoor spaces, garden histories and museum collections. One of these stories appeared in the magazine.
Finding the Cure in the Garden
Until early twentieth century, most of our common plant-based cures were cultivated in the garden. Throughout history plants growing in gardens have played a critical role in healing people. Museum collections are filled with artefacts that offer glimpses of the past and show how important gardens were for people.
The lead article that I wrote for Garden told the story of the Museum’s recently acquired apothecary box and followed its many cures all the way back to the Museum garden. My interest in this box was its connection to the art and science of gardening and plant cultivation as the source of healing medicines. Taking a closer look at some of the box’s contents, there were a wide variety of plant-based cures to be found.
“Luke has worked tirelessly with the curatorial team to unearth the riches embedded in the National Historical Collection, also bringing to the task his conference with the rich botanical history of Australia and its writing worlds. The garden issue is a great read.”
- Katherine McMahon, Director, National Museum of Australia, from the Introduction
Credits
Garden graphic design and production by the Publications team at NMA
Magazine cover illustration and plant illustrations by Cass Urquhart
Landscape photography of Pennyroyal farm and garden by Pete James
Photos of the Garden of Australian Dreams, Kennedy Garden and apothecaries box by NMA