WHAT'S ON

Join Emma Cutting at the Heart Gardening Project Street Gardens to deepen your understanding and engender further discussion on the themes discussed in the Urban Wilds keynote presentation on Saturday 20 May.

URBAN WILDS SERIES

Urban wilds: the inner city as Botanic Garden?

This keynote discussion will explore the tensions inherent in the Botanic Garden as a landscape archetype arising from a particular mode of (Western) thought and how a reframing of this might allow it to become facilitatory of a new urban wildness; drawing from place, offering habitat and refuge and creating new systems of living.

Join Tim, Emma, and Jock for distributed site-specific talks the following day, Sunday 21 May, to deepen your understanding and engender further discussion on the themes discussed in the Urban Wilds keynote presentation. Participants will experience the counterpoints of the Oak lawn at the Botanic Gardens with Tim, the industrial ecology of Westgate Park with Jock, and wrinkles in the suburban fabric of the Melbourne Pollinator Corridor in South Melbourne with Emma, whilst in the landscape.

Bookings can be made for individual sessions, or for the whole series.

COLLABORATOR

Emma Cutting is a mum, teacher, pianist, performance coach, author, avid street gardener, amateur naturalist and amateur plantswoman.

Emma is also Founder of The Heart Gardening Project, a not-for-profit organisation that combines community, science and care to joyfully connect humans to humans, humans to nature and nature to nature through street gardening. Through THGP, Emma revels in connecting the dots between different people and fields of expertise, connecting to the world through her street gardening, getting completely covered in dirt and creating positive systemic change.

She has written and self-published a book, Melbourne Pollinator Corridor Handbook, and has had her photos and words appear in numerous publications.

In addition to this, Emma has been a professional pianist, teacher and performance coach for the last 15 years. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the QLD Conservatorium (after gaining entry at 15), her AmusA (which she achieved at 13) and runs a studio from her home in South Melbourne.

Emma has also been cabin crew for Emirates airlines, sold 40s style Melbourne made clothing, been a porter at a 5 star hotel, worked in fine dining and sold Japanese antiques. Along with all of the above, her 12 year battle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome helped shape her to be the person she is today.