Where the Leaves Fall #15

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 #15

The themes for this issue are healing, rootedness and community, alongside a series of dialogues.

HEALING IN COMMUNITY
In our first theme of issue 15, Anna Souter interviews Sophie Strand, who discusses the myth of the healthy self and why she advocates a view of mind and body as part of a broader web of relations with the world around us; Byron Armstrong joins a group for Black men in Toronto that is using sustainable gardening to reconnect participants with nature and start conversations about mental wellness and positive masculinity; and misery’s co-facilitators, Sonji Shah and Maymana Arefin, discuss how we can redefine our relationships with nature and create spaces for queer joy and healing outside racial capitalism.

REIMAGINING OUR APPROACH TO HEALING
In our second theme Nadia Huggins’ photography project Circa No Future blends documentary and conceptual practices to explore identity, memory, and belonging through Caribbean landscapes and the sea; Tej Adeleye interviews Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah who discusses art, grief and radical visions; and Alexandra Strelcova considers how design can be used to reimagine our approach to healing through the use of plant-based materials.

ANCESTRAL KNOWLEDGE AND COMMUNITY
In the final theme of this issue, artist and poet Millo Ankha reflects on how thinking about conservation brought her closer to the ancestral knowledge of her community, the Apatanis; Niellah Arboine writes about a two-day education symposium at OmVed Gardens with the Selvagem collective - exploring different ways of knowing in the human and more-than-human world; and Naomi Terry considers How Black people and people of colour are shifting the narrative around farming and land use in the UK.

DIALOGUES
Krystina Amato writes about discovering the enchanting teachings of the garden: a journey of nourishment, gratitude and connection; in an extract from their new book It’s Not Just You, Tori Tsui discusses the transformative power of radical imagination; and Sonia Rego writes about the bond with her dogs Karl and Nora - a journey of trust, healing, and enduring love.