Some goings-on at Kew; advance notice

Happy to share some information about future events at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, with the customary offer to host a report from anyone who is able to be there.

Saturday 17/Sunday 18 September 2011 — Behind the scenes in Museum No. 2
For one weekend only, as part of the annual Open House London celebrations, Kew is re-opening the world’s first museum of economic botany, closed to the public since 1960 and now used as Kew’s School of Horticulture. Decimus Burton converted George III’s fruit store into a museum in 1847, and little has changed since then. With help from students and staff at Royal Holloway, we will have plenty of interpretation and information, and are also displaying a wide range of artefacts from the Economic Botany Collection, illustrating themes such as basketry, explorers, timbers,and Kew’s history.

Tuesday 11 October 2011, 5pm — Annual Ethnobotany Lecture
Prof. Will McClatchey on “Ethnobotany of the Home and Hearth”. Will McClatchey, a renowned speaker, is a leading ethnobotanist with special expertise in methodology, the evolution of patterns of human interactions with plants and ecosystems, and the ethnobotany of Pacific islands. His talk is in the Jodrell Lecture Theatre at Kew. No need to book in advance; just go to the Jodrell Gate. The lecture will be followed by further discussions in the Botanist pub on Kew Green. (More details at Kew’s Economic Botany page.)

Friday 9 December 2011. Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker — a centenary celebration
The Economic Botany collection is participating in this conference with displays of Hooker artefacts from his Himalayan expedition. The day will be fun, with a varied programme and expert speakers. Early booking advised.

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