Lorna Mitchell, Head of Library Services, RBGE
Founded in 1670 as a physick garden, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is the custodian of a collection of over 20,000 original artworks, alongside photographic materials, prints, and other decorative items. The collection includes works once used to illustrate lectures in the 18th and 19th centuries, scientific illustrations of newly identified plant species and landscapes — both real and imagined. While most of the works are watercolours on paper, the collection also includes pen and ink drawings, works on vellum, nature prints, collages and a small number of oil paintings.
While the Illustrations Collection is now primarily regarded for its aesthetic value and managed as an art collection, this was not always the case. Historically, the RBGE’s approach to botanical artworks was unequivocally practical; the works were either useful as aids to teaching or as an essential tool (along with the hand lens and dissecting kit) in understanding and communicating the unique features of different plant species. The collection also reflects RBGE’s history as an organisation whose current work is founded upon collections and data which derive in part from exploitative, colonialist, and racist activities.
Like many other organisations, RBGE responded to the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 by issuing a Statement for Racial Justice, which was followed by the publication of a Racial Justice Report in 2022. This included a number of recommendations relating to our collections:
- 6.2 Develop content warning statements for those accessing the Herbarium, Library, Archives and associated catalogues online and in person.
- 9.1 Improve cataloguing and online dissemination of RBGE’s collections, …
- 9.2 Consult with overseas partners regarding their awareness of and barriers to accessing RBGE’s digital resources, …
Statements on the front pages of the Library and Archives catalogues now warn users that they may encounter “terminology which is inappropriate, outdated, offensive or distressing” but progress on the other recommendations has been harder to achieve. This is, I think, partly due to fear — we are afraid of getting it “wrong” but we are also afraid of the potential backlash from politicians, the media and other members of the vocal “anti-woke” minority. We are also (whisper it!) afraid that if we actively engage with the communities that were impacted by the activities of our predecessors they might ask for their stuff back.
The Plants on Paper project with its goals around decolonisation and cultural exchange was an attempt to begin to address recommendations 9.1 and 9.2. It was also one of the most challenging and inspiring projects of my professional career.
The key challenge came from that fear of getting it wrong which was there all the time. Inevitably I did get it wrong — on occasion I got it so wrong that I cringe even now to think of it — but what I learned was that that was okay because the point was that I was trying. I hate to admit it but there was also a concern around how the Plants on Paper participants would respond to me, a person of white privilege, talking about items in the collection that were part of their cultural heritage and personal contexts. Their actual response was humbling in terms of its generosity.
Which brings me to the inspirational bit. I was inspired by the talent, knowledge, humour, tolerance, enthusiasm, generosity of spirit and empathy that everyone brought with them to Edinburgh. I can genuinely say that I still smile when I think about being (a small) part of the project.
So what did I learn from this?
Plants on Paper showcased the value of bringing together individuals from different communities to enable conversations we hadn’t even realised we needed to have. It also demonstrated that to do that effectively you have to recognise that everyone’s time is valuable and compensate them accordingly. Finally, but perhaps most importantly, I learned that the project was, at its heart, about the curation of the RBGE collection of works on paper and that we need to continue and build on this in order to add cultural context to the works in our care that will enable us to meet our aims of making them genuinely accessible to all.