The Beginnings of Outside is the first episode in The Gardens of Others podcast, a three part series exploring the ways in which people’s relationships with plant life and the land, serve as a microcosm of not only the concerns of contemporary political life, but also of the ways in which we might learn to live together. 

For this episode the South African artist collaborative MADEYOULOOK invites you into deep listening to the recollections of various gardeners, activists, artists and writers of colour in Britain and South Africa as they share their personal experiences and memories of how they came into relationship with plant life and nature. They place these narratives within the wider historical contexts of migration and families of growers using gardening as a means of place-making, and maintaining connections to their ancestral homes. 

How to listen: Gardens of Others podcast | MADEYOULOOK | Episode 1 – The Beginnings of Outside will be released Monday 24 May, 12 noon on Soundcloud.

Podcast producers: MADEYOULOOK 

Contributors: Josina Calliste, Sui Searle, Ama Josephine Budge, Zakiya McKenzie, Carole Wright, Juliet Sargeant, Charles Nembhard, Navi Kaur, Mphathi Motha, Simangele Siko. 

Editors: Daniel Basckin and Andrei van Wyk. 

Thanks to: St. Anne’s Allotment, Garden Museum UK, Janine Nelson, Mo Cooper, Pandeani Liphosa and Ngilima Photography Archives.

This research residency is part of Here, There & Everywhere, a collaborative programme led by New Art Exchange with Delfina Foundation, Eastside Projects, QUAD/FORMAT, Primary, MAC and The Tetley, and funded by Ambition for Excellence (Arts Council England).