Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Unearthed: The Power of Gardening
Matt Reed, Antonia Moon and Sui Searle in conversation with Datshiane Navanayagam
Gardens provide communities with space and vision and an intimate access to nature. Unearthed: The Power of Gardening, the British Library’s currently running exhibition, exhibits this power of gardening as a centre of culture, habitat, and community. Matt Reed, Global Director of the Aga Khan Foundation, speaks of how the Trust uses green spaces to create sustainable community gardens around the world. Sui Searle, founder of @decolonisethegarden, works towards reclaiming gardening as a decolonial act — the garden as a tool of resistance. Antonia Moon is the co-curator of the British Library’s summer exhibition Unearthed: the Power of Gardening and the Library’s Lead Curator of Post 1858 India Office Records. In conversation with journalist and broadcaster Datshiane Navanayagam, they explore how gardening can be a joyous impetus for social change, creating nurturing spaces, healing, and community renewal.
Matt Reed is the Global Director of Institutional Partnerships for the Aga Khan Foundation and the CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation (UK) in London. Previously, he was the CEO of AKF (India) in Delhi and Assistant Vice President and Secretary of the Board at the Keck Graduate Institute, one of the Claremont Colleges. He has worked at the Getty Research Institute, the Salzburg Seminar, and the MacArthur Foundation.
Antonia Moon is a lead Curator on the India Office Records at the British Library, where she has worked for many years to make the records accessible to national and international audiences. She is a co-curator of the Library's current exhibition ‘Unearthed: the Power of Gardening’.
Sui Searle is a gardener, writer and printmaker. She has worked in botanic, public, private, and community gardens. She is the creator of @decolonisethegarden on Instagram, and is editor of the online gardening newsletter, Radicle. She sees the garden as a site of co-creation, one which holds the potential to practice other modes of being.
Datshiane Navanayagam is an award-winning broadcaster, reporting for BBC One’s Countryfile, Radio 4’s File on 4, as well as the UK’s flagship current affairs strands, including ITV Tonight, BBC Panorama, and Channel 4 Dispatches. A regular voice on the radio, Datshiane has presented Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, and has her own weekly programme, ‘The Conversation’, on the BBC World Service.
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#gardening #jlflondon #literature
Unearthed: The Power of Gardening
Matt Reed, Antonia Moon and Sui Searle in conversation with Datshiane Navanayagam
Gardens provide communities with space and vision and an intimate access to nature. Unearthed: The Power of Gardening, the British Library’s currently running exhibition, exhibits this power of gardening as a centre of culture, habitat, and community. Matt Reed, Global Director of the Aga Khan Foundation, speaks of how the Trust uses green spaces to create sustainable community gardens around the world. Sui Searle, founder of @decolonisethegarden, works towards reclaiming gardening as a decolonial act — the garden as a tool of resistance. Antonia Moon is the co-curator of the British Library’s summer exhibition Unearthed: the Power of Gardening and the Library’s Lead Curator of Post 1858 India Office Records. In conversation with journalist and broadcaster Datshiane Navanayagam, they explore how gardening can be a joyous impetus for social change, creating nurturing spaces, healing, and community renewal.
Matt Reed is the Global Director of Institutional Partnerships for the Aga Khan Foundation and the CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation (UK) in London. Previously, he was the CEO of AKF (India) in Delhi and Assistant Vice President and Secretary of the Board at the Keck Graduate Institute, one of the Claremont Colleges. He has worked at the Getty Research Institute, the Salzburg Seminar, and the MacArthur Foundation.
Antonia Moon is a lead Curator on the India Office Records at the British Library, where she has worked for many years to make the records accessible to national and international audiences. She is a co-curator of the Library's current exhibition ‘Unearthed: the Power of Gardening’.
Sui Searle is a gardener, writer and printmaker. She has worked in botanic, public, private, and community gardens. She is the creator of @decolonisethegarden on Instagram, and is editor of the online gardening newsletter, Radicle. She sees the garden as a site of co-creation, one which holds the potential to practice other modes of being.
Datshiane Navanayagam is an award-winning broadcaster, reporting for BBC One’s Countryfile, Radio 4’s File on 4, as well as the UK’s flagship current affairs strands, including ITV Tonight, BBC Panorama, and Channel 4 Dispatches. A regular voice on the radio, Datshiane has presented Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, and has her own weekly programme, ‘The Conversation’, on the BBC World Service.
Follow us on –
Website - jlflitfest.org
Facebook - facebook.com/JLFInternational
YouTube - youtube.com/c/jlflitfest
Instagram - instagram.com/jlfinternational
Twitter - twitter.com/JLFLitfest
#gardening #jlflondon #literature
