Florilegium Exhibition win Heritage Award

Presentation of the National Heritage Award 2017 for Events and Publications to ""Florilegium: Sydney’s painted garden"

The National Trust Heritage Award for Events and Publications in 2017 went to historian Colleen Morris and The Florilegium Society at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney for Florilegium: Sydney’s Painted Garden held at the Museum of Sydney in 2016.

• “Florilegium: Sydney’s painted garden” was hosted at the Museum of Sydney from 30 July to 30 October 2016.
• It showcased 87 contemporary artworks by more than 60 international and Australian artists.
• The exhibition was part of the 200th birthday celebrations of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney in partnership with The Florilegium Society and supported by the Royal Botanic Garden and Domain Trust.
• The exhibition illustrated the diversity and significance of plants grown by the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mount Tomah, and the Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Tomah, and demonstrated the botanical and horticultural development of the first botanic garden in Australia and its links with domestic gardens and the public landscapes of NSW from 1816-2016.

“The work of historian Colleen Morris is world class. Painted Garden was a complete triumph in terms of the contemporary botanical artworks it collected and then donated to our permanent collection. The other exciting aspect is that we are now working to put on a significant exhibition of a similar nature at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in 2018.”
Director, Science and Conservation Dr. Brett Summerell

A post visit survey conducted at the Museum of Sydney demonstrated that “Florilegium: Sydney’s painted garden” was highly regarded by visitors.

• 93% of respondents felt the exhibition met or exceeded expectations
• 85% of respondents found the stories of plants, people and gardens highly engaging
• 91% of respondents highly rated the ambience of the space

To my mind, the page devoted to the award provides a benchmark of good practice for all botanical art exhibitions of this type in terms of criteria for assessing content and value.

Those in the UK will be able to see for themselves when the exhibition comes to the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens in 2018.

Webpage for the Award

About the project teams

Worked on the project:
SLM Exhibition Project Team –

• Curator: Colleen Morris (Florilegium Society);
  
• Project Manager Bob Whight;
  
• Project Officer Amelia Lindsay;
  
• 3D Designer Keira McDonald;
  
• Graphic Designer Bruce Smythe;
  
• Registrar Bronwyn McKenzie;
  
• Editor Rhiain Hull;
  
• Film Producer Mason Dean;
  
• Marketing coordinator Ron Cuadra;
  
• Publicity coordinator Hayley Gallant.

Florilegium Society Publication Project Team

• Project Manager Beverly Allen;
  
• Historical text Colleen Morris;
  
• Botanical text Louisa Murray (Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney);
  
• Editor Marie-Louise Taylor (contractor);
  
• Designer Stan Lamond (contractor) .

Cover of the associated Publication

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About the National Heritage Awards

The National Trust Heritage Awards are the signature event of the Australian Heritage Festival and are now in their 23rd year of recognising heritage projects. 

​​To view all the finalists and award recipients please visit the 2017 winner page here.