Apples and People explores the astonishing story of the apple

Apples & People explores the astonishing story of the apple, connecting its diverse history to humanity and culture. Based upon a newly commissioned global map of the apple which traces a network of stories from the ancient world to the present day, this online programme and associated social media will reveal just how significant and iconic this humble fruit has become.

Latest Apple Stories

A series of more than forty short stories will explore different aspects of the apple’s significance to people across the world. These stories will be released over eighteen months, starting in January 2021, with the latest appearing here.

You can also subscribe to our newsletter to be informed when new stories are published. See all the published Apple Stories here.

Wassail Cup © National Trust Images - John Hammond, NT Cotehele

Wassail

Wassails often involve drinking to the health of apple trees to promote a bountiful harvest of health-giving apples.

Santa Dorotea (St Dorothea) - Francisco Zurbarán

The Apple and the Rose

The apple is thought to have originated from the rose in central and southern China some 40 million years ago.

Tian Shan © Naï Zakharia Picking apples in the Tian Shan Fruit Forest - originally published in Emergence Magazine

Fruit of the Heavenly Mountains

The domestic apple stems from the fruit forests of the wild apple (known as Malus sieversii) on the slopes of the Tian Shan.

Paul Cézanne - Still Life with Apples, circa 1878, oil on canvas. Copyright © The Provost and Fellows of King's College, Cambridge, UK

Cézanne’s Painted Apples

In the late 19th century, Paul Cézanne declared he would paint the otherwise unremarkable fruit and “astonish Paris with an apple.”

Apples & People is a digital response to a time of great uncertainty, bringing the astonishing global story of the apple to all. Symbolising global connectedness, individual achievement, happenchance, and people and nature working closely together, the apple we eat today offers us hope as well as nourishment.

Based upon a newly commissioned map of the apple world that traces a network of stories about the apple from the ancient world to the present day, Apples & People will highlight just how significant this fruit is to people, and how vital people have been in selecting the rich variety of apples that are enjoyed around the world today. These stories will be released throughout 2021 and 2022 on key dates in the apple’s own calendar.

This online digital engagement preludes a programme of exhibitions at four sites in Herefordshire, UK, the English county that grows more apples than anywhere else in the country. It will bring together visual art & culture, sound, community engagement, science, and the natural environment to explore the fascinating history of this symbolic fruit.

The exhibition programme is a partnership between the Brightspace Foundation, the Cider Museum and the National Trust in Herefordshire which together aim to provide a resource for all those interested in the history, future and value of the apple.

Featuring

Adam / Aphrodite / Johnny Appleseed / Avalon
Barnaby Barford / The Beatles / Bramley / Helen Cann
Paul Cézanne / John Cripps / Golden Delicious
Saint Dorothea / Jupiter Evans / Eve / Fuji / Gala
Gangines / Heracles / Goddess Iõunn
Thomas Andrew Knight / Pink Lady® / Laurie Lee
East Malling / Michelin / Mappa Mundi
Isaac Newton / Lucien Pissarro / Pomona
Queen Pu’abi / Jan Van Riebeeck / Granny Smith
William Tell / Mangzi Tian / Alan Turing
Nikolai Vavilov / G F Watts / Wassail / Snow White