Thirty contemporary artists, designers, and makers are joining forces in Inverleith House gallery, at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, for a remarkable celebratory exhibition.
Partnering their new pieces with historic works, Earth Matters (March 20 – November 1), is a multidisciplinary salute to soil. It marks the 300th birthday of James Hutton, the “father of modern geology” who transformed world thinking about the very ground beneath our feet.
It is a particularly fitting place - and event - for Hutton’s tercentenary. Soil is one of the most powerful agents for supporting life and storing carbon. It is dynamic, complex, alive with fungi, bacteria, and other organisms. And it has been a medium for art down the centuries and around the world. In this gallery at the heart of a world-renowned research institute, Amy Porteous, the Garden’s arts producer and Susanna Beaumont, founder of Design Exhibition Scotland, are creating the ultimate nod to the synergy between art and science.
Amy Porteous explained: “James Hutton was a geologist, a farmer, and a radical thinker who transformed our understanding of the evolution of the planet and the very ground beneath our feet. As a centre for plant science, mycology, and horticulture, soil is at the core of what we do. Inspired by Hutton and subsequent trailblazers, our artists are delving into this living ecosystem to reveal its brilliance, beauty and fragility. They bring a body of works exploring our relationships with the land, our disruptive past, and our current concerns. Overwhelmingly Earth Matters is about renewal and hope.”
From his farms at Slighhouses and Nether Monynut, in the Scottish Borders, Hutton explored the country’s rock formations. Travelling to such landmarks as Siccar Point on the Berwickshire coast, Salisbury Crags in the capital’s Holyrood Park, and Glen Tilt in Perthshire, he developed his theory of unconformity, ultimately leading him to propose the theory that the planet is not a fixed creation but has always been a living, shifting, entity.
Telling his story has become something of a mission for Susanna Beaumont, since she conceived the idea of an exhibition. An experience inviting us, through the works of different media, to journey through three centuries, from Hutton’s travels - often in the company of John Clerk of Eldin, some of whose works are in the exhibition - to significant environmental developments of the 21st century.
Susanna concluded: “James Hutton was a remarkable thinker of the Enlightenment who asked us to look at the world in a very different way. To take a leap of faith and imagination. That is a trait shared by artists who offer us the potential to see our world with fresh eyes and to reimagine what we take for granted. Through art, craft and design dating from the 18th century to the present-day, our ambition is that Earth Matters will illuminate the power and vitality of earth, while paying tribute to the father of modern geology.”
Image: Crunch Willoughby with Peat Stack, ceramic blocks created from wild clays found in Highland landscapes.
Earth Matters features work by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Louise Bennetts, Stevi Benson, Stefanie Ying Lin Cheong, John Clerk of Eldin, Constanza Dessain, Joan Eardley, Nancy Fuller, Cara Guthrie, Ilana Halperin, James Hutton, Adam Johnston, John Kay, Tania Kovats, Viv Lee & Jonathan Wade, Becky Little & Tom Morton, Sekai Machache, Maria McStay, Kevin Andrew Morris, Kelly Murray, George Perry, Carol Rhodes, Natalie Taylor, Graeme Todd, JL Williams, Clare Woods, Eleanor White, Alberta Whittle, Crunch Willoughby, Fiona Young, and more.
It is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and Edinburgh Geological Society, with special thanks to the James Hutton Institute. The exhibition is part of Edinburgh Science Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival, RSA200 and James Hutton Tercentenary 2026.
Main image: Eleanor White with Quern, inspired by ancient crops of East Lothian and bold community conservation projects in Edinburgh and beyond. Created from Lauriston Farm clay, mixed grog, and Granton Rouge d’ Ecosse wheat ash.
ENDS
For more information, images or interviews, please contact Shauna Hay shay@rbge.org.uk 07824 529 028, or contact Suzie Huggins shuggins@rbge.org.uk , 07385 491 460
EDITOR’S NOTES
Design Exhibition Scotland celebrates exceptional objects & ideas for the everyday. We champion the energetic brilliance of the many designers, makers and artists working across Scotland today. We encourage adventurous thinking, experimentation, excellence and exploration, and through debate, exhibitions, conversation and commissions, we make visible the vitality of contemporary design to a wide audience.
DES Talks with Susanna Beaumont - Podcast - Apple Podcasts
Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, is a unique contemporary art gallery, embedded in the world of plants. Designed by David Henderson in1773, for Sir James Rocheid (1715-1787) as his family home and centrepiece of his estate, it was acquired by the Garden in 1877, and was the official home of Regius Keepers until 1960, when it was transformed into the inaugural Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
Since 1986, Inverleith House has been the Garden’s own centre of art. Growing audiences year on year since the organisation’s 350th anniversary in 2020, it is in a unique position to explore, explain and celebrate the historic and contemporary relationships between art and science.
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a leading international research organisation delivering knowledge, education, and plant conservation action around the world. In Scotland, its four Gardens at Edinburgh, Benmore, Dawyck and Logan attract more than a million visitors each year. It operates as a Non-Departmental Public Body established under the National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1985, principally funded by the Scottish Government. It is also a registered charity, managed by a Board of Trustees appointed by Ministers. Its mission is “To explore, conserve and explain the world of plants.”