With Love. From an Invader. films and the book will be part of the V&A South Kensington's Friday Late program on 27 Feb 2026.

With Love. From an Invader
Theatre & Performance, Room 103, Level 2
Two-channel film on loop from 18:30 – 21:30
Duration: 37 minutes

Artist Yan Wang Preston photographed a heart-shaped Rhododendron ponticum bush at a lunar-like, post-mining site in Lancashire, recording ambient sound in collaboration with Monty Adkins and collecting wildlife footage from 2020 to 2021. The installation reclaims the thriving plant’s central role in the local ecology, challenging its label as ‘non-native invasive’ in conservation. Reflecting on Yan's identity as an immigrant, the work is a love letter to land, and non-native people. British rhododendrons are introduced plants from Europe and Asia. Sound composition by Adkins.