The History of Kew Gardens: The World's Garden

February 2027

The History of Kew Gardens: The World's Garden

Welcome to The Arts Society Clapham Common

Wednesday, February 17, 2027 - 11:00

Clapham Picturehouse
76 Venn Street London SW4 0AT

Online Event

From 18th century royal pleasure gardens to the most biodiverse place on earth today, Cindy Polemis digs into the fascinating history of Kew Gardens.

Today Kew holds the largest and most diverse collection of plants in the world: 30,000 living plants, some extinct in the wild, 14,000 trees, nearly 8 million dried specimens and more than 2.4 billion seeds - it is truly the world’s most important garden.

We’ll look at Kew’s early role as a beacon of historical landscape aesthetic, its crucial part in the advancement of science, colonialism and trade, and how today it drives international efforts to combat the effects of climate change and the threats of extinction in the natural world.

Cindy Polemis

Cindy is an art historian and independent lecturer, who also loves gardening. She is interested in the links between art history and the history of garden design, which she brings to life in her walking tours at Kew Gardens. She studied history at Oxford University and, as a mature student, graduated from Birkbeck College with a B.A. and M.A in History of Art. She has spent many years as a radio producer and presenter for the BBC World Service. As an official art guide since 2016 at Tate Modern, Tate Britain and for the Frieze Masters art fair in London, she has a wide range of art historical knowledge ranging from 18th century British and European art to the contemporary art scene.

The History of Kew Gardens: The World's Garden

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