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.
18th September is International Eat an Apple Day! We are delighted to share an article written for Apples & People by Australian academic Dr Nicola Bondonno, a Researcher at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia. Nicola explains why you should make sure you eat an apple on International Eat an Apple Day…and every day.
This Journal of Apples article is illustrated with paintings from the collections of the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Aberdeen, and a photograph from Apple & Pear Australia Ltd of an orchard in South Australia.
East Malling Research Station was established in Kent in 1913 to address the practical needs of fruit growers.
Our 16th Apple Story explores the important work on apple rootstocks that took place at East Malling Research Station (now known as NIAB EMR).
Led by British horticulturalist and pomologist Sir Ronald G Hatton, who was its director from 1914 to 1948. On 5th September 1917 he published the first nine types of recommended ‘Paradise apple’ rootstocks.
‘Paradise Rooted In War’ features archive photographs from East Malling Research Station.
We also have an Apples & People music commission by Samuel Read, Thomas Nelson and Gareth Swindail-Parry who form the composers’ collective ‘Unredacted Productions’.
This piece of music celebrates the classification of the Malling M9 rootstock and includes programme notes that explain how it was written and composed.
Apple loading at Port Nelson 19 20s © Nelson Provincial Museum - Pupuri Taonga o Te Tai Ao, F N Jones Collection 311092
Frederic Leighton - Garden of Hesperides (1892) © Courtesy National Museums Liverpool, Lady Lever Art Gallery
Apple tree at Woolsthorpe Manor, 1840, George Rowe after Thomas Howison, Drawing © The Royal Society
Emily Gravett - Bear Apple © the artist
Billy Apple® - Cut 1964, offset lithograph on T.H. Saunders paper, edition of 25 Courtesy of The Mayor Gallery, London © Billy Apple ®Follow us on social media:
The Health Benefits of Apples
Home, JournalPeople who eat more fruit have a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, dementia and depression – by Dr Nicola Bondonno from Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia.
Xincai Tan
Home, JournalWritten by Xincai Tan, ‘Píng Guǒ Shì Jiè’ tells of the domestic apple originating in the Tian Shan, the Heavenly Mountains on China’s western border, and spreading around the world from east to west.
Tōson Shimazaki
Home, Journal‘Hatsukoi’ or ‘First Love’ is a poem written by Japanese author and romantic poet Tōson Shimazaki which tells the story of dreamy love and growing up, set amongst apple trees. This commission is read by Masayo Sasaki with a piano accompaniment.
The Holographic Properties of the Apple Crunch
Home, JournalThis is the story behind the discovery that an apple crunch sound has holographic properties, rendered visible by using a CymaScope to produce the holographic images and video.
Mangzi Tian
Home, JournalMangzi Tian is inspired by nature’s imagery especially apples and estimates that he has painted some two hundred apples over the last 15 years.