Wider Community Gathering & Exhibition:
SOIL: Celebrating All Things Earthy!
Artwork by Bethenie Carriaga. Photograph by Caroline Vitzthum.
For Kumar, Soil is not merely the ground beneath our feet but the very basis of all life on Earth—providing the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the conditions for ecological stability. His framework proposes a holistic vision in which Soil, Soul, and Society are deeply interconnected: a healthy planet depends on a healthy self and a just society. Soil represents our relationship with the natural world; Soul reflects our inner life and spiritual wellbeing; and Society speaks to our collective responsibility and interdependence. By starting with Soil, we sought to ground participants in the tangible, sensory, and symbolic presence of the land—inviting reflection on our role as stewards of the living systems that sustain us.
Curated by Education Coordinator Caroline Vitzthum, with contributions from Braziers' resident community and wider network, the SOIL Wider Community Gathering & Exhibition created space for dialogue, creativity, and embodied experience. Over four days, participants engaged in a wide range of soil-inspired activities, including organic seed and plant exchanges, clay sculpting in the Braziers landscape, deep-listening circles, earthy reading sessions, sustainable paper-making, muddy mark-making for children (and adults), tea tasting, moth identification, guided tours through our no-dig permaculture garden, a shared harvest and vegan cooking session.
Identifying moths with Sean O’Leary. Photo by Caroline Vitzthum.
The exhibition and the hosted workshops complemented each other closely, with artworks extending and enriching the weekend’s conversations and activities. Installed across Braziers’ grounds and buildings, the works brought the programme to life—offering participants moments of reflection, surprise, and connection between scheduled sessions. As visitors wandered through the site, they encountered works in barns, greenhouses, meadows, and woodland edges, each piece building on the last to create an unfolding narrative around soil, ecology, and place.
Events and installations were situated across a range of indoor and outdoor locations—from the listed 17th-century barn and Victorian greenhouse to the meadows, orchard, cowshed, and walled garden. These diverse settings not only provided a rich backdrop for the artworks but also sparked conversations about the history and current use of each space, the biodiversity they support, and how artistic engagement can help surface new ways of relating to the intricate, interconnected life below our feet.
An additional highlight of the gathering was the transformation of Braziers’ in-house library into a temporary Soil Reading Room—a curated space for reflection, learning, and quiet engagement with the event’s central theme. The Reading Room featured a wide range of contributions from participating artists, facilitators, and members of Braziers’ wider network. The collection included handmade zines, artist publications, exhibition catalogues, academic essays, favourite books and readings, as well as posters and themed board games—all exploring and expanding upon the many dimensions of soil. This evolving library space became a site of informal knowledge exchange, offering visitors a chance to pause, browse, and deepen their connection with the subject through multiple voices and perspectives.
Mud-Painting & Crafting with Wildflowers Forest School. Photo by Caroline Vitzthum.
Featured artists: Alexandra Papademetriou, Belinda Garner, Bethenie Carriaga, Brooke Leigh, Chankalun, Debra Pollarini, Eilidh Guthrie, Elizabeth Salazar Guerra, Juliet Duckworth, Laura Selby, Lola Evelyn Ives, Mills Brown, Moss Berke, Nicole Frobusch, Notgroundbreaking, Peter King, Rhona Eve Clews, Sabīne Šnē
Workshop facilitators: Anastasia Lewis, Caroline Vitzthum, Chris Chapman, Helen Edwards, Laura Selby, Sean O’Leary, Stray workshop, tinyteahouse, Wildflowers Forest School
A note from the curator: A heartfelt thank you to all exhibiting artists, facilitators, and participating individuals who helped make this event so very special. Your input, enthusiasm, and support throughout the weekend were deeply appreciated. A special thank you to the resident community at Braziers, who so warmly welcomed all of us soil fanatics and made the gathering feel so meaningful.