The Tai-Haku cherry tree was extinct except for one single tree found in East Sussex. From this lone migrant, thousands of trees were grown all over the world. Over three hundred of them have blossomed this week in The Alnwick Garden.
The visit to Alnwick Gardens with local people from refugee background was the first activity for To Own Both Nothing and the Whole World, a project by Henna Asikainen and Roua Horanieh that will be presented at The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art during Refugee Week 2025, opening on June 11 and running until July 5. Full details online soon!
One of the participants commented: “It’s like I’ve been transported to a fantasy land in the garden. A blanket of cherry blossoms formed a bubble that allows you to be rooted in the moment. Connecting you to everything. Transporting your consciousness to place without time, where everything and everyone is immortal, existing both in and outside of time.”
The project is co-commissioned and co-produced by Counterpoints Arts and Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts and made possible by the support of Moomin Characters Ltd. in celebration of 80 years since the publication of the first Moomin story.
The project explores ideas of home and belonging, reflecting on the impact of displacement on both human and more-than-human worlds.
Photographs by Saya Rose Naruse.
