122. DEAR EARTH: Artists respond to the Climate Crisis at London’s Hayward Gallery With curator Rachel Thomas and artists Ackroyd & Harvey Break Out Culture With Ed Vaizey by Country and Town House

 ‘Dear Earth’ is the show at the Hayward Gallery on London’s south Bank that represents a coming together of 15 global artists who are responding to the crisis our planet is facing.  

We talk to Rachel Thomas, the chief curator and two of the artists exhibiting there, Ackroyd & Harvey.  Ackroyd & Harvey have contributed a series of portraits of environmental activists made from seedling grass.

Rachel tells us about the other exhibits there, including the moving and enchanting film ‘The Future: Sixes and Sevens’ by Cornelia Parker, depicting small children talking about their fears and hopes.  Other works include photographs and film of the devastated Kichwa Territory in Peru by Richard Mosse, John Gerrard’s ‘Surrender’, a digital installation of a flag which heralds visitors into the show, Jenny Kendler’s large scale sculpture of birds’ eyes – many of the birds are in danger of extinction or already extinct -  and the five-metre-high ‘Living Pyramid’ at the show’s heart by 93-year-old Agnes Denes.

We also hear about the Hayward’s beautiful roof garden created by Grounded Ecotherapy, set up to help recovering addicts, alcoholics and people with mental health problems.  The garden was commissioned 11 years ago and now contains 250 species of wild indigenous plant – more than any other roof terrace in the world. 

It's a devastating but beautiful exhibition, conceived to convey hope, start conversations and explore solutions via the artists’ lens.