Seeds of Trees, Sounds of Mountains

31 January – 8 June 2025
Open daily 10am-7pm – No booking required

An exhibition exploring climate change with works by artists Ubaydullah Ahmad, Mobeen Akhtar, Samantha Buckley, Mike Collier, Rachel Dein, Genevieve Girling, Jenni Hawkins, Katie Holten, Carmen Mardonez, Helen Pailing, Olga Prinku, Robert Strati, Adam Tait, Stephen Turner, writer and poet Corina Lozovan, and sound artist Geoff Sample.

In partnership with the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Wakehurst, the Plant Genetic Resources Institute, the National Genebank of Pakistan and the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).


“And We have spread out the earth, and placed therein firm mountains, and made grow therein all kinds of things in due proportion.”

وَالْأَرْضَ مَدَدْنَاهَا وَأَلْقَيْنَا فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ وَأَنبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَّوْزُونٍ

Sūrat al-Ḥijr (Qur’an 15:19)


This quote underpins the Aga Khan Centre Gallery’s second exhibition exploring issues around climate change with the Aga Khan Development Network’s climate manifesto at its heart:

“The Qur’an teaches us that as God’s noblest creation, humankind is entrusted with the stewardship of all that is on earth, and that each generation must leave for its successors a wholesome and healthy social and physical environment.”

Excerpt from: The World Government Summit in Dubai on 13 February 2023, Prince Rahim Aga Khan’s speech on AKDN’s work around urbanisation in the developing world against the backdrop of climate change. 

 

Seeds of Trees, Sounds of Mountains is inspired by this message from the Qur’an and the ethos at the heart of the Aga Khan Development Network’s global practice. It is a confluence of ideas and connections inspired by, and based on, the work of the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) around environmental stewardship and climate change adaptation using nature-based solutions. Project partners include the Royal Botanic Gardens’ (Wakehurst) monumental Global Tree Seed Programme — specifically their work in partnership with the National Herbarium of Pakistan as well as the Aga Khan University’s documentary series ‘Voices from the Roof of the World’. The connection between these organisations is their work around conservation, preservation and the stewardship of communities, landscape, and plant species indigenous to Pakistan’s Himalayan region. This programme has enabled the preservation of key medicinal vegetation and endangered tree species in Pakistan, a country that connects all the partners mentioned above.

Elements of this narrative are beautifully interpreted by the creative responses from artists, providing visually stimulating and thought-provoking spaces to consider, contemplate and raise awareness of why the Seeds of Trees, Sounds of Mountains are fundamental to our survival.

Thus, the exhibition includes an array of materials reflecting our partner organisations’ work alongside stunning artworks created by artists from across the UK and internationally. The selected artists work in a variety of disciplines, are at different stages of their career, and each brings a tapestry of ideas from their broader practice, passion for climate conservation and connection to the theme of the exhibition.

Artists Mobeen Akhtar, Mike Collier, Rachel Dein and Helen Pailing undertook short residencies at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Wakehurst — this new experience encouraged a creative dialogue between artists and scientists, an exploration of Wakehurst’s magnificent Millenium Seed Bank as well an insight into the meticulous work undertaken by scientists based at Wakehurst on seed conservation, collection and cataloguing, with seeds coming from all corners of the world. Their time at Wakehurst has inspired new work, commissioned especially for Seeds of Trees, Sounds of Mountains, with each artist focusing on a different idea that sparked their imaginations.

Artists Samantha Buckley, Jenni Hawkins, Carmen Mardonez, Olga Prinku and Rob Strati were invited to respond to the overall theme of the exhibition with information shared on the work which unites the partner organisations. They too, focused their creativity on specific threads, bringing the landscape of the Pakistan’s Himalayas to their workspaces.

Writer and poet Cornia Lozovan was invited to imagine the ‘sounds of mountains’ and write a poetic piece inspired by this very notion. She was asked to consider if mountains could communicate with one another and the living landscape around them, what might they say… are they sentient like trees, do they have a sense of being and secret language as guardians of the earth? Are they emotive structures, rumbling and responding to what is happening to the planet? Mountains are found in all corners of the world, and their underlying tectonic plates are protective shields to what exists above, below and around them. As the Qur’an quote suggests, we are the stewards of the earth, and our role is to listen and live within due proportion.

Illustrator Stephen Turner was invited to collaborate with Cornia Lozovan to visualise her poetic work. This international collaboration afforded them the chance to diversify their practice in a new direction.

Sound artist and ornithologist Geoff Sample has also considered the ‘sounds of mountains’. An alchemist at work, he has interlaced birdsong with whispers of wind, running water from a stream, and the bells of the mountain goats indigenous to the Pakistan Himalayan region.

Filmmaker and photographer Adam Tait has provided a series of stunning aerial photographs of Pakistan’s Himalayan region including the breathtaking landscape of Gilgit-Baltistan — images he took while on an expedition with the Aga Khan Development Network. They are accompanied by a gilded calligraphic piece by Genevieve Girling who was invited to scribe Psalm 96 from the Bible in English, as a way of sharing the importance of creation and mountains as viewed by both Judaism and Christianity.

Islamic geometry and calligraphy artist Ubaydullah Ahmad sourced a variety of quotes from the Qur’an to reveal examples of its phraseology around the significance of mountains and our role as stewards of the earth, thus bringing us back to the original quote: “And We have spread out the earth, and placed therein firm mountains, and made grow therein all kinds of things in due proportion.

The exhibition is supported by the three institutes based at the Aga Khan Centre: the Aga Khan Foundation UK, the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations and the Institute of Ismaili Studies.