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Lichen: A Beauty Exposed

@ Life Science Centre

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Iain Duncan is a Hexham-based photographer who spent more than two years exploring the natural history around Hadrian’s Wall – he shares the story of its ancient lichens in this exhibition.

Lichen: A Beauty Exposed, is a collection of photographs showing lichens on the central section of Hadrian’s Wall as well as in the immediate vicinity of the world heritage site along the Hadrian’s Wall Corridor which extends 10 miles to the north and south. The exhibition reveals an extraordinary range of textures and colours.

Iain said: “The aim of this project is twofold. Firstly – I want the audience to look and become absorbed in the lichen patterns and to use their imagination in interpreting what they see. To do this, I linked a number of the pieces with short images drawn from Shakespeare’s plays, providing just one way of ‘seeing’.

I also hoped to raise awareness not only of the natural colonisation which is ongoing, but also of the human story of colonisation along the Wall, beyond the time of ancient Rome, by drawing on extracts from historical, archaeological and poetic texts.”

With the wall in situ since 122AD, the eco-system of mature lichen colonies are of great environmental importance and Iain hopes that raising public awareness about them will help ensure the ancient life form will survive for the next millennium.

You can see Lichen: A Beauty Exposed in the Biomedicine West Foyer, Centre for Life.

Monday – Thursday: 8.00am – 6.00pm

Friday: 8.00am – 5.00pm

Closed weekends.

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