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The Gardening Drawing Club & (Almost) Ikebana – Talk, Tour, Tea & Seed Swap
February 19 @ 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
This artist talk will offer insight into The Gardening Drawing Club -from workshop to publishing, focusing on (Almost) Ikebana.
(ALMOST) IKEBANA
The Gardening Drawing Club
From free workshops to publication
Artist talk by Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck
Schedule
15:30 – 16:45: Artist Talk with introduction by Sam Skinner + Q&A
16:45 – 17:30: Break with free organic herbal tea, seed swap, visit of the exhibition ‘(ALMOST) IKEBANA & RELATED EXPLORATIONS’ in the Gallery @ the School of Arts.
Location
The School of Arts
NHHB Building, Headington Hill
Oxford Brookes University, OX3 0BP
About
This talk will offer insight into Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck’s long-term artistic practice and pedagogical projects by introducing The Gardening Drawing Club, a collaborative and ecological initiative founded in 2021 that offers free arts and horticulture events for adults in Children in Britain.
Based on the Oculus Horti Hypothesis, The Gardening Drawing Club brings together arts, horticulture, and collective learning as a form of care, attention, togetherness and joy. Since April 2022, 1859 participants have joined the project.A central focus of the talk will be (Almost) Ikebana, an ongoing workshop series within The Gardening Drawing Club’s programme that respectfully yet humourously explores the art of Ikebana through drawing, observation, improvisation, flower arranging, conversations, and tea.
To date, the ‘(Almost) Ikebana’ workshop has included 17 free public editions, alongside numerous additional workshops with primary and secondary school pupils, university students, and other communities. The series reimagines ikebana not as a fixed discipline, but as an open, inclusive practice that encourages attentiveness to materials, deep ecology, surroundings, and transnationalism.The talk will also address the creation of the (Almost) Ikebana publication, produced in December 2025 in a limited edition of 200 copies during Tagada Hoffbeck’s artist residency in the Fine Art department at Oxford Brookes University. Edited by Johanna and published by Poetic Pastel Press, the publication extends the ethos of the workshops into print, documenting processes, drawings, and new reflections that continue the project’s emphasis on slowness, care, ecology, spirituality and collective creativity. The publication includes text by George Collum, Miriam Melake, Kasia Murfet, Sam Skinner and Johanna Tagada Hoffbeck.
This public event is supported by The School of Arts at Oxford Brookes University.
6:00 -8:00 pm is the formal exhibition opening and you are welcome to stay for this.
Johanna has previously given talks on her practice at art and culture institutions including Tate Modern (London), Camden Art Centre (London), Design Museum (London), BOAN1942 (Seoul), Gerrit Rietveld Academie (Amsterdam), Archipel Centre de Culture Urbaine Musée des Beaux Arts (Lyon) and The Bodleian Libraries (Oxford). She has also given lectures to institutions including Guggenheim (Abu Dhabi), Oxford Brookes University (Oxford) and V&A Academy (London).
Info about the Oculus Horti Hypothesis via:https://johannatagada.net/Oculus-Horti-Hypothesis