Unforgettable Gardens

This series of four talks, organised by the Historic Gardens Foundation in partnership with The Gardens Trust, explores international examples of Unforgettable Gardens, seen through the eyes of their owners, managers, creators and restorers.

The Historic Gardens Foundation is an international not-for-profit organization, launched in 1995, which works to bring together lovers of historic parks and gardens across the world. Its magazine, Historic Gardens Review provides a portal for the views of both enthusiasts and professionals and is a strong voice in championing the cause of our global garden heritage.

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This ticket costs £16 for the entire course of 4 sessions or you may purchase a ticket for individual sessions, costing £5 via the links below. (Subscribers to Historic Gardens Review will be able to purchase a series ticket for £8.)

Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.

Due to a recent Apple decision to charge a 30% fee for paid online events unfortunately you may no longer be able to purchase this ticket from the Eventbrite iOS app. Please use a web browser on desktop or mobile to purchase or follow the link here.

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Week 1. 5 October. Restoring Fehérvárcsurgó, a former family property in Hungary: Part of a series of 4 online lectures, £5 each or all 4 for £16.

Week 2. 12 October. Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens: Part of a series of 4 online lectures, £5 each or all 4 for £16.

Week 3. 19 October. Victoria Ocampo and her Sibling Gardens: Part of a series of 4 online lectures, £5 each or all 4 for £16.

Week 4. 26 October. Naumkeag’s Garden Preservation as a Fine Art: Part of a series of 4 online lectures, £5 each or all 4 for £16.

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Week 1. 5 October: Restoring a former family property in Hungary with Angelica Károlyi

The stately home and park in Fehérvárcsurgó, 50 miles west of Budapest, were originally Baroque, overlaid in the 19th century with an eclectic mix of naturalistic landscape style and a touch of Art Nouveau. Nationalised after World War II, the historic house was at risk of collapse by the late 1980s and the park had become a jungle. This talk will explore how Georges Károlyi - great-great-grandson of Fehérvárcsurgó’s creator - and his Paris-born wife Angelica have restored the former family estate, turning it into a European cultural meeting centre, and have started to restore the park, which since 2005 has hosted an annual European Art of Garden exhibition.

Angelica Karolyi was born in Paris in 1947 to German parents, both painters. She studied political science at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, and has a master’s degree in history from the Sorbonne. In 1971 in Paris, she married Georges Károlyi, who was originally from Hungary. They had 4 children and still have a home in Paris but live most of the time in Hungary. In 1994 they created the Joseph Károlyi Foundation, a non-profit organisation that aims to promote relations between Hungary and the rest of Europe, and to ensure the restoration of her husband's former family property in Fehérvárcsurgó, Hungary. Under the auspices of the Foundation, Angelica organises numerous international conferences on political science and history, as well as exhibitions and concerts, including an annual string quartet festival.

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Week 2. 12 October: Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens – evolution of a beautiful landscape with Richard Barley

Richard will speak about the continuing evolution of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, from its inception and first planting in 1846 (in Melbourne’s infancy), through the phase of development of a ‘scientific botanic garden’ under German botanist and explorer Ferdinand Mueller, the remodelling with subtropical influences under William Guilfoyle’s direction, to the contemporary improvements as the climate warms and water sustainability becomes one of the most significant challenges.

Richard Barley joined the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in 2013, relocating from Victoria, Australia. He was formerly Chief Executive Officer of Open Gardens Australia, and before that a Director within the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, where he worked for 30 years. Richard has extensive experience of balancing the needs of a world-class horticultural site and visitor attraction, while maintaining and developing important scientific living collections. In his current role he has overall responsibility for the living collections and landscapes of the Kew and Wakehurst sites, and also for Kew’s School of Horticulture, Learning and Participation programmes, Interpretation and Safeguarding, together with a selection of capital building programmes. Richard holds a degree in Applied Science (Horticulture), from Burnley College (University of Melbourne) and in addition to being a Council member of the CIH, he is a Trustee of the Castle Howard Arboretum Trust, the National Garden Scheme, and the Kew Guild; and is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Gardeners.

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Week 3. 19 October: Victoria Ocampo and her Sibling Gardens: Testimonials of 20th Century Culture (Beccar and Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) with Sonia Berjman

Victoria Ocampo (1890-1979) was an outstanding patron of the arts, cultural manager, writer, editor, feminist avant la lettre, but also a garden lover. Her family belonged to the most traditional Argentinean upper social class and, during the 1930s, she inherited two properties located in the Buenos Aires Province: both had splendid gardens designed by her father. She maintained and renewed them for the rest of her life. These gardens welcomed the most prestigious writers, musicians, philosophers, intellectuals and cultural characters from all over the world and hosted their talks, ideas and projects. Victoria donated both properties – including the gardens, of course - to UNESCO; today one of them belongs to the Mar del Plata City Government. Both are historical landmarks.

Sonia Berjman is an Argentinian urban and landscape historian, now residing in Uruguay. She holds two PhDs (from the Universidad de Buenos Aires and Université de la Sorbonne), is a former researcher at the Argentina National Council of Research and at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, and a former graduate professor at several Argentinean universities. She has a long-standing relationship with Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections (part of Harvard University). Among her numerous writings, she has published more than twenty books. Sonia is also a member of editorial boards for journals in Argentina, Colombia and Brazil and is an Honorary Member of the ICOMOS-IFLA Cultural Landscapes Scientific International Committee.

Image: Villa Ocampo from the upper terrace © Jorge Bayá Casal

www.soniaberjman.com

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Week 4. 26 October: Polishing the Masterpiece: Naumkeag’s Garden Preservation as a Fine Art with Lucinda (Cindy) Brockway

The gardens at Naumkeag are recognised world-wide for their iconic blue steps and grove of white birches. The property is run as a public garden by The Trustees of Reservations, who have been gifted with remarkable cultural resources that continue to connect people to place, and art to nature across iconic properties in Massachusetts, USA. A recent four-year restoration of Mabel Choate and Fletcher Steele’s masterpiece, Naumkeag, overlooking the Berkshire hills, ‘polished’ their 1926-1956 garden. Steele believed that garden making should be considered one of the fine arts. His fine attention to line, colour and texture, and Choate’s pursuit of the best horticultural selections drove the restoration. Fuelled by new programmes and events, and a business planning model based on the English National Trust, Naumkeag is now opened from early spring to late December drawing record crowds as the carefully preserved garden sparkles in every season. This lecture outlines the development of Naumkeag through its creators’ own words and engages the audience with its remarkable restoration discoveries, as The Trustees continue to polish this masterpiece garden.

Lucinda A. Brockway is the Managing Director of Cultural Resources at The Trustees. Brockway leads a team of cultural resource specialists seeking innovative solutions for cultural sites ignited by the unique legacy of each property. Brockway facilitated the curation of landscape research, planning and investments in three National Landmark sites including Naumkeag (Stockbridge, Massachusetts USA) which included rethinking the role of house, collections, landscape, and ruins for public engagement and directed new archival research to unlock the unique spirit of place at each property. A published author and landscape preservation expert, Brockway serves as instructor for the National Preservation Institute (Alexandria VA), and offers lectures nationwide each year on historic preservation, landscape history and design and served as an expert for numerous conference presentations.

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