DETAILS
Free, booking required
TCL Melbourne Office
385 Drummond St, Carlton VIC 3053, Australia
TCL (Taylor Cullity Lethlean) presents What is a Garden?, an exhibition based on its forthcoming publication, Gardens: Taylor Cullity Lethlean.
The exhibition includes a series of sculptural installations that distil ecological, cultural and botanical themes, narratives and material expression that have preoccupied TCL’s design of both public and private gardens for more than thirty-five years.
The opening night also includes a panel discussion centred on expanding the question ‘What is a garden?’ The discussion is moderated by Professor Gini Lee, a co-author of the publication, and includes speakers with wide-ranging preoccupations and perspectives.
Participants
Emmaline Bowman
Emmaline Bowman is an award-winning landscape architect and Director of STEM Landscape Architecture & Design. Inspired by her upbringing on a family farm, she specialises in habitat-driven design using Australian flora to enhance biodiversity and reconnect people with nature. Her work has transformed rural and urban sites into thriving ecosystems, earning major awards including Best in Show Gold at the 2025 Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show.
Alistair Kirkpatrick
Alistair Kirkpatrick is a landscape architect, ecologist and educator with over 25 years’ experience across academia and practice. Focused on Melbourne/Naarm’s vegetation communities, he has designed more than 50 gardens internationally and received a Gold Medal at the 2023 Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show. He currently teaches horticulture and landscape design at Melbourne Polytechnic.
Bede Brennan
Bede Brennan is a landscape architect at SBLA, writer and educator whose work explores human relationships with the more-than-human world. Raised in the rainforests of northern NSW, his perspective informs both his design and creative projects, including the ongoing “Shitgardens” series. He has presented widely and taught at the University of Melbourne.
Professor Gini Lee
Gini Lee is a landscape architect, interior designer, pastoralist and Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Melbourne. Former Elisabeth Murdoch Chair of Landscape Architecture, she is known for her work in cultural and critical landscape architecture, and the curation of complex landscapes. Her research focuses on arid and remote environments, with a multidisciplinary emphasis on water landscapes, and the cultural, scientific understandings across Australia and beyond.
Jakobi lli-Jakobi
Jakobi lli-Jakobi is a Djab Wurrung and Dhauwurd Wurrung man, cultural educator and emerging biocultural scientist. Studying Plant Science at the University of Melbourne, he focuses on place-based storytelling and Indigenous knowledge systems to inspire new perspectives on land and ecology. His work supports Caring for Country and environmental restoration initiatives.