Edible Estates, 2007

To coincide with Tate Modern’s exhibition Global Cities – an exploration of the social and economic developent of 10 international cities: Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo, Tate Modern invited Fritz Haeg to design a garden in collaboration with Bankside Open Spaces Trust. A small patch of land outside Brookwood House Estate was entirely transformed into a vegetable garden for local residents – beans gave the garden height whilst beds of herbs, fruit and vegetables were planted on the ground. The project attracted lots of volunteers, some without access to green space, some wanting to learn more about gardening, some wanting to take part in community work and others there to socialise. Haeg and his volunteers worked in collaboration with Bankside Open Spaces Trust and the residents of Brookwood House over the long weekend 25–28 May 2007 to design and plant the a garden.