Gardening Leave

Allotments have a rich history. People, mostly urbanites, have been attracted to them since the mid-19th centuries. What commenced as a safe space and a playground for children and youths, soon became a green oasis for the emerging industrial proletariat to escape from the miserable conditions they were living and working in and to support their families with the crop they grow. Today, allotments are popular as never before, waiting lists have become even longer during the pandemic. “Gardening Leave” is my attempt to understand the various roles allotments play in people’s lives today - gardening, community, recreation, sense of belonging, freedom - and, along the way, understand today’s diverse world, condensed in a small universe. I am exploring allotments as places of inclusion and seclusion where people from different backgrounds - social, generational, original - some together, leave some of their backgrounds behind and form a transitional community in its own right.