In early October the SLG opened its new permanent garden designed by artist Gabriel Orozco, with support from 6a architects and horticulturists at Kew Gardens. The garden, which was an unattractive area of paved land at the back of the SLG, has been transformed into a unique sculptural work with a walkway and a reception area welcoming the residents from Sceaux Gardens housing estate during weekends and for special events.

For more information about the SLG's Orozco garden take a look here.

To celebrate the garden opening, we invited artist Emma Smith to bring her School for Tourists project to the SLG. Emma worked with members of the public at two events, along with residents from Sceaux Gardens housing estate - including the children at the Shop of Possibilities - and students from Camberwell College of Art to create a collaborative intervention exploring the roles of 'host' and 'guest'. The culmination of the project is a host/guest book available for the public to sign in the garden reception area, along with limited edition artworks created by Emma in the form of seed packets and host/guest badges, encouraging debate about what it means to be a host or a guest. In a particular context, such as the SLG garden, are you a host or are you a guest? For me this is particularly pertinent thinking about current issues around immigration and Brexit.

School for Tourists was initiated by Emma Smith at Grizedale Arts in 2011, and has since toured internationally. For more information about Emma's project at the SLG take a look here, and about School for Tourists here.