Plant Power

Find out how plants are used to make cosmetics, tyres, fuel, medicines, staple foods and much more.

We cannot live without them, but we take them for granted. This photographic exhibition looks at our relationship with and dependence on the plant kingdom.

Please note: The Plant Power gallery is now closed to prepare for a new contemporary art commission. Ten artists have been shortlisted to design a new ceiling, known as Darwin's Canopy, in celebration of Charles Darwin’s bicentenary next year. You can see proposals for the designs, and the winner, in the Jerwood Gallery from June.

This gallery will open again in February 2009.

Cartoon image of a stegasaurus disappearing through closing door

With our shark experts, Speedo developed a super-fast swimsuit – its special fabric mimics the microscopic features of sharks’ skin.