Arts pavilion aims to plant seeds of an idea about the role of insects
AN ARTISTIC project for people to experience the role of pollinating insects for themselves is taking place in York.
A timber pavilion inspired by cathedral arches has been erected in the artists’ garden behind York Art Gallery and will now be planted with hundreds of pots of flowering plants to attract bees, beetles, butterflies and moths.
Next, a second structure, an ‘Archilace’, made of carbon fibre and fibre-reinforced plastic will be installed to create a living structure for climbing and trailing plants to grow around.
And this will be complemented in September by the installation of a huge inflatable known as The Pollinarium and created by Loop. pH, which visitors will be able to step inside to experience the world through the eyes and ears of a pollinating insect.
This final stage of the project has been co-commissioned by York Mediale, York Museums Trust and Invisible Dust, and will open to the public on Saturday, September 29.
In the meantime a series of free workshops and activities themed around pollination are running at the garden throughout the summer.
Mark Carlin, one of the organisers of the York Mediale art festival, hopes the project will be a hit.
He said: “When it is complete in September, with the plants all fully grown, we hope that many people will return to gain a unique perspective on pollination, seeing the world through the eyes of a pollinating insect in a remarkable immersive experience.”