Designer Juliet Sargeant brings 'Modern Slavery Garden' to Chelsea Flower Show to highlight ongoing problem in the UK.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How many modern-day slaves are there in the UK?
2 What colour are the insides of the garden doors painted in?
3 Why are there a couple of doors open in the garden?
4 Which two businesses does Juliet mention at the end?
You may think that slavery is something of the past and something that wouldn't exist in the UK.
But this advert released by the Home Office aims to raise awareness of the 13,000 people in the UK who are thought to be held or forced to work against their will.
From the depravity of humanity… to the beauty of nature. The Chelsea Gardens. But this year modern slavery will have light shed on it at the Chelsea Flower Show, thanks to the work of Juliet Sargeant.
It’s been… well, quite a shock, really, and a real learning curve for me to realise that slavery still exists today and in the UK, in London and in every major city. It’s unbelievable, but it’s true.
The artist’s garden seeks to highlight the hidden nature of the crime to those who visit.
I wanted that to be the first thing that people sees, so they’ll see the colourful doors and bright flowers but then if they stop at the garden and look into the center, they’ll see that it’s dark and the doors on the insides are painted black, and that represents the dark heart of slavery, modern slavery. Handles and letterboxes are just on the outside so the idea being that if you’re a slave, you can’t communicate, you can’t free yourself. There are a couple of doors on the garden that are open because I wanted to reflect the idea that there is hope.
Despite the fact it's hidden by nature Sargeant wants to bring modern slavery to the forefront.
It would be really nice if people started talking more about modern slavery. It’s just really a matter of having our eyes open as we walk down our own street or go shopping, just to be aware that that person in the nail bar or in the restaurant might be there against their will.
Whilst nature is permitted to exist freely… the hope is that all people too can live freely.
Key:
1 13,000
2 black
3 to represent hope
4 a nail bar and a restaurant
