A discrete pop-up exhibit by artist Becky Lyon prompting us to explore looking at plants and being looked at through experimental photographic objects.

Do plants give their permission to be photographed or touched? Can we exhibit flowers and their images while respecting their privacy? Does looking equal knowing? Western science has assumed a right to access, know and name plants – should it? To look or not to look, to touch or touch me not?

In a time where our relationship with flowers are perhaps dominated by the visual - roses from Sainsbury’s are bred to look fabulous but smell of nothing and we can’t seem to resist the lure of the perfect cherry blossom selfie – this small, quiet, discrete exhibit invites you to look at plants – or not – otherwise.

Drop into a hidden-in-plain-sight greenhouse space and contemplate these questions through an unruly herbarium of experimental photographic objects and tactile invitations. Here, plants refuse to come into focus, offer us partial views and invite us to ‘see’ and engage with our other senses.

The space accommodates one person at a time and is a photo-free area, open on selected days across September in OmVed Gardens, itself a hidden oasis in Highgate, North London. In addition, join the artist Becky Lyon for An Unruly Herbarium experimental plantography workshop exploring these themes on Saturday 19 September 11:00-13:00.

You must book a ticket to view this exhibition. 

The show will be open to visitors on: 

• Thu 10 September, 1-4pm 
• Sun 13 September, 11-3pm, Open Day. Book here
• Wed 16 September, 5-7pm 
• Thu 17 Sept 1-5pm 
• Sat 19 Sept - for workshop participants only. Book here
• Thu 24 Sept 4-6pm

Please book a time slot and arrive promptly at your scheduled time.

In line with OmVed Gardens’ 2026 theme, Listening as Care, Becky's work invites us to slow down and explore listening as an act of careful attention. The exhibition invite us to reconsider how we look at, touch, and relate to plants.

An Unruly Herbarium: Experimental Plantography Workshop

Sat 19 Sept, 11am–1pm

Discover mindful, hands-on cameraless photography with Becky Lyon, creating experimental plant images inspired by Touch Me Not through playful process, close observation, and happy accidents. Book here

About the Artist

Becky Lyon is an artist, PhD researcher and London National Park City Ranger of mixed English x Jamaican heritage. Her practice is invested in the politics of ecology, particularly in England and the possibilities of art in rehearsing more equitable and liveable worlds. She explores sensory and bodily knowledges as a way of reclaiming our relationship to place and her work takes the form of tactile objects, sensory installations, hand-made moving images, audio experiments and publications. Recent projects have included investigating notions of Britishness through the spread of the ‘invasive’ Muntjac deer; a heat-reactive installation for visitors to embody the uneven distribution of rising temperatures; performances for London’s polluted waters and surfacing relationships to soil and water through a pop-up cafe experience. She runs Ground Provisions, a ‘schooled-by-the-forest’ for adults and The Department of Artecology, a space for transdisciplinary conversations in the conservation sector.

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About OmVed Gardens:

OmVed Gardens is a garden, exhibition, events, and learning space in North London exploring food, ecology, and creativity for climate resilience. Through regenerative gardening, seed saving, and food advocacy, we support communities, enhance biodiversity, and promote ecological education through creative practice.

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www.omvedgardens.com · @omvedgardens