Banking on Life

Kew's Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) partnership, a global project established to collect and conserve the majority of world's 300,000 flora species, is the subject of an exhibition in the Nash Conservatory at the botanical gardens, which celebrate their 250th anniversary this year. Combining science and art, the exhibition will explain the project's role as an insurance policy against extinction (the seeds are stored in a freezing vault kept at -20C so they can be re-grown for future generations). Photographs of seeds being collected in some of the world's most remote locations, hands-on displays of bizarre seed structures and works by sculptor Tony Gibas and electron micrograph artist Rob Kesseler encourage visitors to look at seeds in a fresh light. Outside, vast willow sculptures of seeds by Tom Hare line the mini-Broadwalk leading from the Main Gate towards the Nash Conservatory.