Inspired By Knepp - The Rewilding Art Exhibition (4

For a dozen glorious spring days, the renowned Knepp Rewilding Project will play to host a group of 12 artists. Their exhibition, called Inspired By Knepp, will show individual artworks that celebrate the rewilding movement. It will aim to reconnect its visitors to the wider landscape and its wild inhabitants. Proceeds from the artworks sold will be split between the artists and the Knepp Wildland Foundation.

Over the last few months, the artists have been given safari-like tours and spent several days exploring the estate. The exhibition will show each artist’s response to their time immersed within the inspirational, transformed and thriving landscape.

There will be various works on display including paintings, sculptures, drawings, and printmaking. In addition to this, there will be a series of workshops and demonstrations to allow members of the public to connect with their creative sides, as well as with nature.

For those who do not know, Knepp was the first major rewilding project in England.

What was, up until 2020, intensively farmed arable and dairy land, is now a transformed landscape thrumming with wildlife.

Many rare species can be found there including turtle doves, nightingales, cuckoos, barbastelle bats and the purple emperor butterflies that you may have seen in David Attenborough’s Wild Isles series.

It also pioneered the release of white storks and the first beavers living wild in Sussex for 400 years.

Knepp really hit the public consciousness with the release of the book, ‘Wilding’. An instant lockdown hit, Isabella Tree’s moving account of their pioneering conversion back to nature, showed the nation how it is possible to restore and heal our broken landscape.

Nature is in crisis everywhere, especially in the UK. We are one of the most bio-depleted countries in the world, but we are all reliant on nature.

We cannot exist without it, and yet there is a huge disconnect between us and nature. For the artists involved, Knepp is a symbol of hope for how humankind could live in greater harmony with the natural world.

The beauty of art is that it can make us see the world differently. It can show us what we may take for granted, in a dazzling new light. A large percentage of art sales will go to the Knepp Wildland Foundation, a charity that aims to galvanise nature recovery across Sussex and contribute to reversing our biodiversity crisis.

The exhibition runs on the Knepp Estate from the 4th – 16th of May and is open daily, between 10 am – 5pm. Entry will be free, and you can also visit the Wilding Kitchen & Shop for a bite to eat, as well as explore the Knepp Estate grounds yourself, using the designated footpaths. Further information can be found here.

Inspired By Knepp - The Rewilding Art Exhibition (4 - 16 May 2024)