SOIL: The World at Our Feet exhibition at Somerset House explores soil's cultural and ecological significance
At Somerset House in London, the exhibition titled SOIL: The World at Our Feet delves into the essential significance of soil through various artistic, scientific, and activist perspectives. This multidisciplinary showcase is co-curated by Henrietta Courtauld, Bridget Elworthy, May Rosenthal Sloan, and Claire Catterall, and is divided into three parts: Life Below Ground, Life Above Ground, and Hope. Noteworthy pieces include France Bourély's photographs of soil organisms, Wim van Egmond's microphotography of earthworms, and Marshmallow Laser Feast's video, Fly Agaric I – Poetics of Soil (2024). Additional contributions feature Ken Griffiths's garden series, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige's Trilogies: Monastiraki Athens (2018), and Fatima Alaiwat's Smellscape (2022). The exhibition is open until 13 April, culminating in a global soil protection database.
Key facts
- Exhibition SOIL: The World at Our Feet runs until 13 April at Somerset House in London
- Co-curated by Henrietta Courtauld, Bridget Elworthy, May Rosenthal Sloan, and Claire Catterall
- Features three thematic sections: Life Below Ground, Life Above Ground, and Hope
- Includes works by Marshmallow Laser Feast, France Bourély, Wim van Egmond, and Michael Prime
- Showcases historical projects like Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige's Trilogies from Athens, Beirut, and Paris
- Annalee Davis's Unlearn the Plantation addresses colonial history in Barbados
- Vivien Sansour and Neville Wisdom's film documents Palestinian seed preservation
- Fatima Alaiwat's Smellscape involves bokashi fermentation for composting
Entities
Artists
- Henrietta Courtauld
- Bridget Elworthy
- May Rosenthal Sloan
- Claire Catterall
- Vivien Sansour
- Neville Wisdom
- France Bourély
- Wim van Egmond
- Michael Prime
- Marshmallow Laser Feast
- Merlin Sheldrake
- Ken Griffiths
- Howard Sooley
- Joana Hadjithomas
- Khalil Joreige
- Annalee Davis
- Asunción Molinos Gordo
- Theo Panagopoulos
- Fatima Alaiwat
- Something & Son
- Sam Williams
- Semantica (Jemma Foster and Camilla French)
- Juan Cortés
- Jackie Summell
- Eve Tagny
- Fernando Laposse
- Jim Richardson
- Herman de Vries
- Miranda Whall
- Ana Mendieta
- Maeve Brennan
- Joya Berrow
- Anya Gallaccio
- Asad Raza
- Clare Richardson
- Daro Montag
- Diana Scherer
- France Bourely
- Harun Morrison
- Paul Granjon
- Jo Pearl
- Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck
- Kim Norton
- Lauren Gault
- Marguerite Humeau
- Mariana Heilmann
- Michael Landy
- Mike Perry
- Tim Cockerill
- Elze Hesse
Institutions
- Somerset House
- The Land Gardeners
- Palestine Heirloom Seed Library
- Great Dixter
- National Geographic
- Mars
- Somerset House Studios
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- Athens
- Greece
- Beirut
- Lebanon
- Paris
- France
- Barbados
- Egypt
- Nile Valley
- Palestine
- Caribbean
- North America