If trees could tell stories ...Vauxhall

Imagine if the mature trees across our parks and local areas could tell their silent witness stories, reminiscing and recounting how their surroundings have changed, developed and evolved over the years. 

What might they say?

For example the trees of Vauxhall Park, since their planting and the park’s opening in July 1890, have seen buildings come and go, roads and railways grow and over a century of different park visitors.  It is truly fascinating to try to envisage what a tree’s growth-rings timeline of an area might highlight and be like.

Throughout the difficult months of spring 2020 and the onset/fallout of coronavirus, amidst it all, nature continued to flourish obliviously, and often in doing so brought much needed smiles to our faces.

The ‘if trees could tell stories…’ initiative seeks to unearth the spatial, social, cultural and environmental historic layers of an area’s past and present, to potentially inform a future, encouraging learning through landscapes, and respect for trees and the environment, all channelled through creativity.

This Vauxhall project grew from and was made possible by the Mayor of London’s ‘Culture Seeds’ grant scheme, supporting community-led cultural projects across London. I would like to thank the Culture Seeds team for their funding and support. For further information please see: Culture Seeds | London City Hall

I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to and participated in the current Vauxhall project, kindly setting aside time for socially distanced interviews. Thank you for your beautiful memories, observations and images of the local area, for sharing these and your willingness to participate in this local heritage environmental art project.

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Christina Gestra - founder and creative lead of this initiative, is a chartered landscape architect, part time spatial design lecturer and freelance visual artist. Combining experience in these areas along with personal interests in spatial analysis through layers, respect for and understanding of the past, consultation with integrity, cohesive communities and general raising awareness of environmental issues, all led to the creation and on-going evolution of ‘if trees could tell stories…’,