The Goethe Annual Lecture invites acclaimed speakers to share their perspectives on the themes that we, at the Goethe-Institut London, explore through our cultural work, and on the most pressing issues that societies are facing in the United Kingdom, Germany and worldwide.
For our 2025 Goethe Annual Lecture, we welcomed Ackroyd & Harvey as our guest speakers. Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey have been collaborating as an artistic duo since 1990 and over these recent decades have made a name for themselves as pioneers of activism through their artistic practice. Their collaborations include Culture Declares Emergency and XR Writers Rebel, and their work has been commissioned, shown and honoured with awards by institutions such as Tate, Hayward Gallery, Wellcome Trust and the Royal Academy.
In their talk, Ackroyd & Harvey explored how a fable captured the artistic imagination of the German artist Joseph Beuys, leading to the creation of one of the most memorable land artworks of the 20th century:
7000 Oaks – City Forestation Instead of City Administration ('Stadtverwaldung statt Stadtverwaltung'). The project was first presented to the public in 1982 at documenta 7. As a world-renowned contemporary art event, documenta takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. From 1982 to 1987, Beuys planted 7,000 oak trees in the city. In response to the extensive urbanisation of the setting, the work was a long-term and large-scale artistic and ecological intervention with the goal of an enduring alteration to Kassel’s urban realm.
Beuys' intervention captured the imaginations of Ackroyd and Harvey, inspiring them to collect acorns from 7,000 oaks and start growing hundreds of trees as part of their artistic practice. Since 2007, the artists have been nurturing Beuys' Acorns in parallel with exhibitions and public dialogues reflecting on the cultural and environmental significance of trees in urban spaces. They are now planting circles of oaks with partners across the UK, creating a broad canopy of cultural engagement through a network of community participation. In their talk, they revealed the key insights, influences and inspiration behind their remarkable and ever-growing journey with Beuys' Acorns.
The lecture was followed by a Q&A, moderated by Sean Rainbird.
Supported by the Friends of the Goethe-Institut London.
