Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969–2009
The RSA Arts & Ecology Centre collaborates in creating the events and commissions for the Radical Nature exhibition. Starting with a key event at the RSA, over 50 events will take place at the Barbican gallery between June and October.

19 June 2009 - 18 October 2009
Barbican Art Gallery

The beauty and wonder of nature have provided inspiration for artists and architects for centuries. Since the 1960s, the increasingly evident degradation of the natural world and the effects of climate change have brought a new urgency to their responses. Radical Nature is the first exhibition to bring together key figures across different generations who have created utopian works and inspiring solutions for our ever-changing planet.

Radical Nature draws on ideas that have emerged out of Land Art, environmental activism, experimental architecture and utopianism. The exhibition is designed as one fantastical landscape, with each piece introducing into the gallery space a dramatic portion of nature.

Work by pioneering figures such as the architectural collective Ant Farm and visionary architect Richard Buckminster Fuller, artists Joseph Beuys, Agnes Denes, Hans Haacke and Robert Smithson, are shown alongside pieces by a younger generation of practitioners including Heather and Ivan Morison, R&Sie(n), Philippe Rahm and Simon Starling.

Radical Nature also features specially commissioned and restaged historical installations, some of which are located in the outdoor spaces around the Barbican. A ground-breaking satellite project by the architectural collective EXYZT featuring events, screenings and summer feasts is situated off site in Dalston, East London.

£8/£6 concs £6 online
Open daily 11am-8pm except Tue & Wed 11am-6pm
Open until 10pm every Thu
subject to availability 

The events programme includes 40 events taking place between June and October, highlights include :

Wed Jun 24 6pm
Seeing Myself See
The Royal Society of Arts
6 John Adam Street
London WC2N
The Royal Society of Arts joins Radical Nature to present Neuroscientist R. Beau Lotto performing a series of experiments involving the sky, music and bumblebees. He will demonstrate how colour, vision and seeing-ourselves-see can contribute to a more empathetic view of the environment and each other.

Green Talks
Join a host of artists, environmental commentators and nature lovers giving their personal take on the exhibition in an accessible and thought provoking way.

Michaela Crimmin: Green Talk
Radical Nature
Barbican Art Gallery

October 8 18.30
Free to same day ticket holders subject to availability

Join the Michaela Crimmin, Head fo RSA Arts & Ecology Centre for a closer look at selected works in the exhibition Radical Nature.

Emma Ridgway: Green Talk
Radical Nature
Barbican Art Gallery

October 1 18.30
Free to same day ticket holders subject to availability

Join the RSA Arts & Ecology Centre Curator Emma Ridgway for a closer look at selected works in the exhibition Radical Nature.


Radical Nature for Families
Every Saturday 2pm/£3 per person (everyone needs a ticket)
Join artists to discover your natural creativity in the exhibition and beyond! Be inspired and make your own natural wonders. Activities will change each week and will be suitable for all aged 5+. Don’t forget to pickup your activity sheet.

July 24 - 25
The Wayward Plant Registry
Wayward plants, commonly referred to as weeds, are ones growing where they're not wanted. They may be non-native, unsightly, invasive, high-maintenance, surplus or withering, and so are uprooted, pulled from the earth as urban castaways. But wayward plants, whether common weeds, domestic breeds or rare botanical specimens, are truly in the eye of the beholder. If you know of any wayward plants in London, please send them their way. They are looking for plants that are unwanted, neglected, or abandoned, as well as plants that are rogue, stray or runaway.
More details on The Wayward Plant Registry.

For more details on Radical Nature Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969-2009 visit www.barbican.org.uk