Artist in Residence - Birmingham Botanical Gardens/Fabric/RBC

Artist in Residence - Birmingham Botanical Gardens/Fabric/RBC EcoSomatic residency exploring human/plant connection through movement,stillness,adaptive presence

I was sitting in the glasshouse and as I looked up I could see a large petal fall from a tree I ran to catch it - it lan...
25/05/2026

I was sitting in the glasshouse and as I looked up I could see a large petal fall from a tree I ran to catch it - it landed in my hand - I unfolded it and the textures were like velvet, the colours like my liver and the shape spread way beyond the span of my hand- it had a beautiful pattern across its surface like veins. It was delicate and vast. A lady next to me gasped as I jumped for joy at catching it and we started a conversation as we gazed at the petal together. At that point another fell from the tree and the lady also reached up and caught it. We both stood together aghast for a moment . I could feel
a shift in my fluids adrenaline, joy! What a thing we both celebrated. What a moment. The woman was here today as she had been donating two books on horticulture to the Botanical Gardens. She had made her way on the bus to give them as a gift. 8 years ago she had taken a level 1 Horticulture course here at the gardens and thought these books could help someone else. We spoke for a while, I told her why I was there as a residency but as we spoke her approach to life, time and “being” really moved me. She said to me “This is my gift of the day… meeting you and this happening” she said “I look for the gift of the day” as we spoke I realised her attitude was more calm and settled than my own in a way … kind of “a knowing” of herself and her limits and staying with her flow. I said “you should be the artist in residence!” I was with someone who could remind me of attitude to engagement with the world that when I slip into working to a target can get lost.

The Dutchman’s Pipe (Aristolochia gigantea) is a tropical climber that attracts its pollinators (flies) with an unpleasant scent. Flowers only last a few days and their structure ensures that the flies are trapped inside for a prolonged period to pollinate it. They are freed only when the flower starts wilting!

How can we land… if our internal landscape is in flux? How can we keep an embodied safeness in the “home of our bodies” ...
23/05/2026

How can we land… if our internal landscape is in flux? How can we keep an embodied safeness in the “home of our bodies” if they are shifting fast (physically, emotionally, mentally/imaginatively - 3 levels of awareness Life/Art process, Anna Halprin) What if there is no time to land or a place we can call home? i’ve been curious about this whilst needing to explore and familiarise with the gardens. It was surprisingly easy once I got down to it! So what were the resources inner and outer that I drew upon? Now that’s the question? I can’t answer quite yet. From our walking score it was clear to me these points of landing that came through…. Also my self portrait I drew today was called HERE NOW. This comes from the space, care i’ve given myself to integrate all that happened, all that came on my last visit. These 6 landings I will immerse myself in and give all the time that that needs.

These roots of the Banyan Tree… The national tree of India. The roots grow downward vertically toward the soil so there ...
22/05/2026

These roots of the Banyan Tree… The national tree of India. The roots grow downward vertically toward the soil so there is a vertical component to their growth direction, but the canopy overall effect is horizontal expansion. Once the roots reach the ground and anchor in, they thicken into trunk-like pillars that support the branches, which then extend further outward. Over time, a single tree can spread over a massive area. The body begins suspended arms extending downward like aerial roots seeking earth and Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment beneath a banyan after seven days of sitting.

My third day in my RiDA residency at Birmingham Botanical Gardens and I was joined by Project Lead and Mentor Dr Polly H...
19/05/2026

My third day in my RiDA residency at Birmingham Botanical Gardens and I was joined by Project Lead and Mentor Dr Polly Hudson. After first catching up, musing and me shedding my surface layer (physically and emotionally) we decided we would use the term companion as it felt a better fit for our relationship on this RiDA research journey. Companionship planting was a part of my curiosity in my proposal on how it is an art of growing plants as neighbors who bring out the best in each other.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ There was a moment where upon our walking score we were sat on these steps here - side by side , but clear in the substance of our separate bodies, clear points of contact with ground and active space in between. Our walking score was decided upon for me to find some landings, I guess some containment for my overwhelming sense of the vastness of all the life that is held here. Our landings, shifting, passings by each other were mostly mutually agreed through our sensing kinaesthesia and common curiosities not always the same. Sometimes pausing and waiting for the other but …. ‘following’ ‘landing’ ‘sensing’ ‘receiving’ and my favourites ‘continue’ and ‘go on’. As we sat on the steps there was much work being done to the left of me. A bee drinking from small white flowers grouped together in clusters, a micro world right by my side in close proximity… a whole other working practice and this was only one landing spot. I found 6! All with the beginnings of a score. Last week I was with the membrane of my skin - today I zoomed right out and am now gathering an understanding of the membrane and shape of the Botanical gardens. The sounds (there are many) both of a city and of the natural world, the smells, the wetness, the colours and textures…. and also the stories which I am yet to find out - some I did today ❤️

On my first visit I criedas something popped in me.It was a sudden feeling of holding, membraneof being held,and a safen...
08/05/2026

On my first visit I cried
as something popped in me.
It was a sudden feeling of holding, membrane
of being held,
and a safeness of breath
all around that swirled.
The thing that hit me
is the atmosphere of the gardens,
the peace, the quiet
with the sounds of the city,
in the distance.
the crow, like he’s gonna be my friend
a mini tractor strikes,
a hose pipe watering.
I can hear the chattering and laughter of children.
A member of staff is stretching out on the lawn
making yoga poses,
opening their hips
so I’m not gonna be so strange.
A tree to my left
is oh so majestic.
As my first outdoor landing
a pigeon comes to say hello
and crow comes close
to meet me again.
I’m gonna go
lay under tree
I do
and it’s endangered
suddenly it becomes something else in my mind.

05/05/2026

Day 1 - May 5th 🌴🍃🌳🌺🌸

Residency: Intergenerational/Intercultural Botanical EmbodimentMary Savva’s Intergenerational/Intercultural Botanical Em...
05/05/2026

Residency: Intergenerational/Intercultural Botanical Embodiment

Mary Savva’s Intergenerational/Intercultural Botanical Embodiment unfolds within Birmingham Botanical Gardens, tracing the subtle relationships that arise when human bodies come into proximity with rooted, adaptive plant life. It explores what becomes possible when the moving body meets these living systems, sensing the botanical traces within us through motion, stillness, yielding, and shared presence.

The Gardens hold rare and endangered species requiring care and attention. Humans arrive in varied states and rhythms, and quiet curiosity lingers around what grounding or connection might unfold beside breathing, living plant structures. To sit in proximity to a flora when you are finding your own ground is to be among species that have been relocated, reestablished, and continually adapted, surviving and thriving through changing environments.

When our own biodiversity comes into proximity with the Gardens’ living systems, questions surface about how shared biological structures shape such encounters, and what grounded knowledge might emerge from here when ‘truth’ feels increasingly uncertain. This residency invites human companions to recognise themselves as part of a wider living system.

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Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Birmingham
B153TR

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