Stem + Glory Prize
Elen Delafouge Jones
2020 winner
Large Copper
Watercolour, Markers, Colouring Pencils
The Large Copper has been extinct in the UK since the late 1800s due to habitat loss. In this work I have visually deconstructed every specimen of the Large Copper at the museum and reconstructed them all individually in a variety of ways. The composition of the piece somewhat resembles the way they are kept in columns and rows within a case at the museum.
There are 55 specimens at the museum, and I have represented them in a grid form. The vividness of their colour diminishes to leave 9 blank squares at the bottom of the piece thus, representing their extinction in the UK.
Meria Palin
2019 winner
The Sea is Sick – What Can I do?
Could we consider ourselves to be rich enough and then also have most helpful influence over the lives of others, other than human beings?
Animals cannot read newspapers or warnings of plastic pollution, neither it is possible to teach them not to eat plastic.
Yesterday plastic lids were found in birds, today in fish, and tomorrow? What can we do?
Kezia Hulse
2018 winner
The topic I looked into was Fairtrade and how it benefits the environment and is sustainable.
Fairtrade is well known for helping farmers through fairer trade and fairer pay so I decided to research about what else they do through their organisation. Fairtrade enables farmers to access education and training on climate change and sustainable agricultural practices. In West Africa, research has shown that Fairtrade cotton producers have better access to training on water management than non-Fairtrade producers. Training provided allows farmers to further understand how to sustainably manage their ecosystems, and to adapt to climate change issues, which often make rainfall more unpredictable.
I wanted to create work that communicates what Fairtrade does; providing education about sustainable practices, enabling farmers to protect ecosystems.
Hannah Moshtael-OskuiHulse
2017 winner
A Home from Home
This work is part of an ongoing project about the warmth and sincerity required of human relationships in a sustainable and flourishing society. You are invited to have tea, served in a compostable paper cup by volunteers from a range of cultures.
The British and Middle Eastern furnishings symbolise the cross-cultural hospitality experienced by the artist, when visiting a Sudanese refugee in Edinburgh, as part of a voluntary effort to foster friendships among neighbours. We were greeted by a young man who had recently been housed in a council flat. He entered the United Kingdom by travelling under a lorry from Calais to Dover. It was a dangerous journey and he was afraid of being found.
Faith is central to his life, and he loves to listen to chanted recordings of the Qur’án. He feels that people of diverse backgrounds must work together to contribute to a more just world. When he starts work, he would like to gain an English language qualification and attend university.
The host served us black tea with sugar and fresh mint. A Home from Home suggests that a sense of warm hospitality is key to building a global culture of sustainable collaboration.
Stem + Glory is part of a burgeoning plant based movement, and a pioneer in the new world of Crowd supported business.
In October 2016 we successfully raised just under £100,000 on Crowdfunder.co.uk to launch our first location, and in April 2018 we raised over £600,000 on Crowdcube for our flagship location in London which opened in January 2019.
The backdrop to our success has been the rapid and exponential shift in attitudes towards plant based cuisine. We now see animal welfare and veganism regularly in the media, and corporations, supermarkets and ordinary folk are becoming more and more willing to make a stand for healthier and more ethical lifestyles.
Our hope and aim is that we can make a contribution towards this shift in consciousness, in order that we can all live in a more peaceful and harmonious world.