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In London, an Enormous Exhibition of 500+ Works Roots Out the Creative Seeds of Flowers

30 Jan, 2025

This post was originally published on Colossal

In nature, flowers serve as an essential component of the reproduction process. But for humans, scented blooms are ripe with myriad meanings and symbolism that transcend their biological functions.

During Victorian times, offering a bouquet to someone with your right hand indicated a non-verbal “yes,” while a yellow carnation would reject an admirer. Similarly in art history, wilting flowers rendered as a momento mori remind us of death’s inevitability, and for van Gogh, sunflowers were the perfect stand-in for gratitude.

a photo of a person laying in a wheelbarrow covered by flowers
Aimée Hoving, “Compost” (2019). Image © Aimee Hoving, flowers by Brigitte Gentis van Dam Merrett

A massive exhibition opening next month at Saatchi Gallery cultivates a vast repertoire of works that explores how blooms have become an omnipresent entity in human life and creativity. Flowers: Flora in Contemporary Art and Culture brings together more than 500 photographs, installations, sculptures, archival pieces, and other objects to create a rich landscape spanning millennia.

Anchoring the exhibition is an expansive and immersive work of 100,000-plus dried flowers by Rebecca Louise Law. Smaller pieces include Xuebing Du’s ethereal photos of flowers in natural light, VOYDER’s streaky steam-laden compositions, and lush, vibrant gardens by Faye Bridgewater.

Opening in time to usher in spring in London, Flowers runs from February 12 to May 5.

a bouquet sits behind a foggy screen with clean streaks revealing the image
VOYDER, “In Love with the Idea of You” (2024). Image courtesy of the artist
a black and white collage of a woman with two faces spliced together
Miriam Tolke, “Flowers of Yesterday.” Image courtesy of the artist
a still life painting of a bouquet with delicate streaks of paint across the flowers
Sandra Kantanen, “Still Life (Flowers I).” Image courtesy the artist and Purdy Hicks Gallery
a dreamy image of a flower with black specks in the center
Xuebing Du, “Mother of Pearl” (2018). Image courtesy of the artist
a philodendron with pink and green coloring stands next to another flower that juts from a wall and cracks down in a perfect right angle
Carmen Mitrotta, “Geometric Leaves.” Image courtesy the artist
a lush painting of flowers in pinks, purples, reds, and oranges
Faye Bridgwater, “En Masse” (2025). Image courtesy of the artist
flowers drip in long vibrant streaks
Ann von Freyburg, “Floral Arrangement 1 (After Jan van Huysum, Still Life).” Image courtesy of the artist

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article In London, an Enormous Exhibition of 500+ Works Roots Out the Creative Seeds of Flowers appeared first on Colossal.

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Boral secures grant for cement kiln carbon reduction

Boral secures grant for cement kiln carbon reduction

Boral Limited has announced that it has secured $24.5 million in federal government funding for a new cement kiln infrastructure project, which will enable it to significantly reduce its CO2 emissions arising from cement manufacturing by up to 100,000 tonnes per annum, based on predicted production rates.

The company says the kiln feed optimisation project at Berrima Cement Works plays a key role in Boral’s broader decarbonisation pathway by reducing process emissions — the largest and most-difficult-to-abate emissions source in cement manufacturing.

The funding announcement was made by Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen at Berrima Cement Works in NSW’s Southern Highlands — a site responsible for supplying up to 40% of cement in NSW and the ACT. The grant is from the federal government’s Powering the Regions Fund, aimed at supporting projects that will enable the decarbonisation of existing industries and contribute to Australia’s emission reduction targets.

The funding will supplement Boral’s capital investment into a new specialised grinding circuit and supporting infrastructure at the Berrima Cement Works. Clinker, formed by heating limestone and other materials at extremely high temperatures in a kiln, is the key ingredient in cement and is highly energy-intensive to produce. It is globally recognised as a difficult to abate manufacturing process, while also being key to all modern construction methods.

The integration of the specialised grinding circuit will enable Boral to substantially increase the proportion of alternative raw materials (ARMs) in kiln feed to up to 23% — up from its current 9% capability — and subsequently lower the amount of limestone used. The key benefit of utilising ARMs over limestone, is that limestone when heated during the clinker manufacturing process will natively release CO2 as the limestone is converted into clinker through calcination. Approximately 55% of the CO2 emissions of the Australia cement and concrete sector originate from this calcination of limestone and are commonly referred to as ‘process emissions’.

As an additional benefit, ARMs also require lower heating temperatures compared with limestone and, therefore, lower energy intensity.

Boral plans to use ARMs derived from a range of by-products from the steel manufacturing process and industrial waste rejections, including granulated blast furnace slag, steel slag, cement fibre board, fly ash and fine aggregates from recycled concrete.

The funding will enable the company to progress to the next phase of detailed process designs for front-end engineering, followed by procurement, construction, installation and commissioning. It is expected to be fully operational in 2028.

“At Boral, we have clearly set out the range of measures we intend to implement to meet the challenge set for us on reducing carbon emissions,” Boral CEO Vik Bansal said. “This is just one investment we have made at Berrima, building on our previous innovations around use of alternative fuels.

“As a result, Boral is on track to remain below the baseline safeguard mechanism requirements. We are also very pleased to be investing in a crucial and historic part of Australia’s manufacturing and construction sector.”

Image caption: Boral-Bowen federal government announcement. Image supplied by Boral.

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