Where the Leaves Fall #13

Where the Leaves Fall is born out of and informed by a series of conversations held at and with OmVed Gardens, in London, UK. Until recently a wounded and tarmacked wasteland, OmVed has been transformed into a diverse eco habitat with a wild flower meadow, an orchard and a vegetable garden.

Through collaboration with artists, architects, chefs, musicians and horticulturalists, it is exploring the nature of the relationship between people and our connection to the environment. It facilitates exhibitions, workshops, concerts, dinners and discussions, creating collaborations around the topics of food, creativity and ecological transformation.

Issue #13

The themes for this issue are rebirth, roots and rights, alongside a series of dialogues.

The Widening Circle
Children of the Anthropocene considers how we need to focus on creating a loving society and shifting our attitudes on care; Whale Whispering features an interview with Michaela Harrison on the transformational power of music through song; Re-Indigenising the Land reveals how the Indigenous Manobo youth of Bukidnon, Philippines, are preserving their land and culture; and I Live in Dandora Phase 4 shows how growing up in a Nairobi slum influenced Kevin Ochieng’s photography (cover photograph).

Rooted In The Infinite
Radical Roots explores - through interviews with Claire Ratinon, Isaias Hernandez, Sophie Strand and Farmer Rishi - how we might find radical kinship by rerooting and rewilding through myth-telling; Koji is Community features a conversation between chef Jo March and fermentation explorer Pao-Yu Liu on culture, community and not being scared of difference; and in Common Ground, Vicky Chown reveals how root and tuber crops are a vital food source around the world, alongside a creative photographic project from Will Hearle and Kasia Borowiecka.

That We Belong
Artists Gregory and Koffman explore the human relationship with nature through time in Nature Rights; The Forest is Life considers how the principles of Earth Jurisprudence are being used to revive Benin’s sacred groves; Black women and women of colour share new perspectives on nature through artist Bryony Benge-Abbott’s film The Colour of Transformation; and in Rights and Responsibilities, an extract from Sacred Instructions, Sherri Mitchell proposes how we can take back our power and build a rights-based society that is balanced, just and harmonious.

Dialogues
My Local Pond is Disappearing and I Can’t Stop Watching is a reflection on the demise and partial rebirth of a pond in Bromley, UK; Everything is Blindingly in Bloom reveals how a move to the country wilderness inspired Shana Cleveland to write an album of supernatural love songs - Manzanita; p_l_an_t is a series of one-page recipes aimed at educating on a plant-based future; and Camonghne Felix pens an ode to her aunty with the poem Born. Living. Will. Die.