New Baltic exhibition, To Own Both Nothing and the Whole World (including the cute plant roots), reflects on displacement during Refugee Week
A new exhibition at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art developed with people currently living in the North East with experience of migration and displacement marks Refugee Week by installing two 200-year-old plant roots – each weighing around 1-1.5 tonnes – in Baltic Square.
To Own Both Nothing and the Whole World exhibition features new work by Henna Asikainen and Roua Horanieh and forms part of the celebrations marking 80 years since the publication of the first Moomin story by Tove Jansson, which had a focus on displacement. The title of the exhibition is a quote from Snufkin – one of the characters in the Moomin stories.
The new exhibition features multiple artworks installed throughout Baltic, including an upside-down tree suspended from the ceiling in Baltic’s foyer, and a new piece of art in the entrance hall lightbox. On Level 5 of the building, a large bird nest symbolises stories of movement, resilience and adaptation.
Commenting on how this exhibition came about, the artist Henna Asikainen says:
”It really began when Counterpoints Arts got in touch about a commission marking 80 years since the first Moomin book, The Great Flood. They were inviting artists in four cities to respond to the book’s themes – displacement, refuge, nature – and I was paired with Roua. We hadn’t worked together before, but the connection felt immediate.
”The day after our first conversation, a huge storm hit. I went outside and saw this tree that had been uprooted and dropped on my street. It felt almost symbolic, like it had arrived for us. With some help, we carried it home. That tree became the heart of the project.”
Artist Roua Horanieh adds:
”Yes, the timing felt serendipitous. I’m from Syria, trained as an architect, but I now see my work as sitting between architecture and storytelling. This project helped crystallise that.
”Displacement disconnects us from the spaces that hold our memories and sense of self. Working with Henna and the participants, many of whom have personal experiences of migration, brought that idea to life. The tree, carried through the city together, became a symbol of that shared journey. It felt like a grounding point, both physically and emotionally.”
What does home mean to you?
To Own Both Nothing and the Whole World explores ideas of home and belonging, reflecting on the impact of displacement on both human and more-than-human worlds. Recognising that nature is our first habitat without which no home can be built. The materials come from the surrounding landscape, each carrying its own enchanting story, bringing communities together in unexpected and meaningful ways.
At the heart of the exhibition are Tai Haku cherry trees and their extraordinary migration story, where a sole migrant tree in the UK became a saviour of the whole ecosystem, reviving the extinct community in its native country of Japan. The Alnwick Garden has donated two Tai Haku cherry blossom trees in support of a new exhibition. One will be in the Newcastle Civic Centre gardens, and the second one outside Baltic in the summer.
To Own Both Nothing and the Whole World also encompasses migratory bird nests with their many stories of movement, resilience and adaptation and 200-year-old tree roots planted during the Napoleonic Wars, and which were uprooted by a recent storm. Willow and other foraged wonders from community gardens feature within the artwork, alongside a tree felled by a storm in local suburbia – a reminder of nature’s unpredictability and the cycles of loss and renewal.
Interconnected journeys
Through this assemblage of living histories, To Own Both Nothing and The Whole World invites reflection on the interconnected journeys of people, plants, and place – foregrounding the invaluable contribution migrants bring to this country, and the power and beauty of nature and community in shaping our shared world.
The project aims to raise awareness around displacement and climate, to create the opportunity for dialogue with asylum seekers, refugees and migrants around the perception of their migration, their future and how they can thrive in a new environment.
It also enables the opportunity for dialogue within the local area on what it takes to welcome a migrant community. Many different elements make a nest, and it takes many to create it, weaving together different elements to create something solid that can hold and shelter someone. By creating a story that lives on in people’s memories and thoughts, there is the potential to change minds and behaviours.
To Own Both Nothing and the Whole World is on at Baltic until 6 July. The cute plant roots are only there until Sunday, 22 June, so hurry up!