In June 2025 deCordova opens Nature Sanctuary, an outdoor exhibition that explores relationships between the natural world and ideas of home. Kiwanga's prismatic artwork On Growth will be on view, inspired by research on Wardian cases, a predecessor to modern day terrariums which were used to transport botanical specimens from overseas to display in European cities. At deCordova, many of the trees were similarly collected from afar and brought to the landscape when Julian and Elizabeth Dana de Cordova lived there during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Set inside this shimmering multi-colored glass chamber is a coiling fern-like sculpture. To create this prismatic artwork, Kapwani Kiwanga researched Wardian cases, a predecessor to modern day terrariums which were used to transport botanical specimens from overseas to display in European cities. At deCordova, many of the trees were similarly collected from afar and brought to the landscape when Julian and Elizabeth Dana de Cordova lived here during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
