Week 10

Title:

Fuinseoga – Irish word for ‘Ash Trees’

Theme: 

‘Out of a healed past, a healed present will grow. Out of a re-realised past, a re-realsied present will grow’. (John Moriarty, Dreamtime, 1994, p.9)

Reimagining our relationship to the natural world through actively engaging with ancestral knowledge.

The exhibition aims to make the invisible visible, encouraging us to confront the once sacred Ash trees that are now dying before our eyes.

Location:

Luan Gallery, Athlone, Ireland. This location is significant due to its central positioning at the heart of Ireland. In Irish Mythology, the Ash tree functioned as a protector to the land, and was therefore planted in the centre to guard the entire country. The exhibition being held at this central location is symbolic, nodding at the trees forgotten pagan symbolism.

Time and Duration:

Thursday 4th – Thursday 18th September 2025. The change of season into Autumn often ignites discourse around trees, particularly in schools. Therefore this timeframe would suit school curriculums.

Artists:

Eamonn Heffernan is a local Irish Artist who works with fallen Irish trees – in particular Bog Oak – to create his abstract sculptures. He is drawn to this medium due to ‘…the spirit and the history that is in (the oak)’. (https://www.farmersjournal.ie/life/craft/meet-the-maker-irish-bog-oak-sculptor-eamonn-heffernan-801832)

Layout:

12 abstract sculptures which also function as chairs will be arranged in a circle in the main room of the Luan Gallery. The sculptures will be made from fallen Ash trees, preferably Ash with Ash Dieback. The number 12 is significant in paganism due to its association with cosmic order, completeness, and the cyclical nature of the universe. The installation will function as an art installation, a workshop space and a conversation pit.

Audience:

Locals to the area, History/Folklore enthusiasts, Environmental/Botany enthusiasts, School children, retired groups. The exhibition aims to accommodate all age groups, with workshops/events for both school children and retired groups, evening events with alcohol and sober afternoon events.

Equipment:

All equipment can be sourced from the gallery:

• Microphones x2 and additional cables.
• Speakers and additional cables.
• Recording device.

Marketing/Media/PR:

• Advertise through local news – posters in the area, inform local clubs/community groups/schools.
• For larger advertising: Visual Arts Ireland, Arts Council Ireland, Treecouncil.ie, Duchas.ie (National Folklore collection)
• Luan Gallery instagram and website
• Advertise through Seanchoiche – The storytelling group who will be doing a residency in the space.

Public Programming:

Seachoiche, an Irish story-telling platform based in Dublin, will hold a residency during the middle weekend. As put on their website, ‘SEANCHOÍCHE is an opportunity to unpack. To come to terms with scars that accompany a personal experience, to gain some closure, to feel something deeper by laughing things out, crying things out, while talking things out. Among all those things, magic is born’.

The events held by Seanchoíche invite people to stand up and tell a story before the audience. There is typically a theme given to each event – I have been to events which have explored stories of embarrassment and laughter. The themes given at Fuinseoga would tie into folklore and inherited stories. Participants would be encouraged to speak about stories they have inherited from their grand parents / parents / local community.

The Seanchoiche events would take place on the  Friday evening, Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon (Sunday would be alcohol free). The experience of Seanchoíche when it comes to hosting such events would ensure a seamless and fruitful experience for participants. The intended outcome of these events would be to share and disseminate local, inherited knowledge and folklore as a way of re-establishing our relationship with our surrounding areas and nature,

In addition, school children will be invited to come in and listen to folklore read aloud by their teachers. They would also be encouraged to share their own inherited stories.

Retired groups will be invited in to do the same.

Between events the installation will remain open for the public to come in and listen to folklore, played through the speakers.

For accessibility and inclusion purposes, timeslots will be dedicated to making the installation neurodivergent friendly. This will include lights being dimmed and noise from the speakers being reduced.

Archiving:

Post exhibition a website will be designed in a similar format to the rural futurism website (https://www.ruralfuturism.com/). This design choice will place emphasis on nothing other than the stories that were told during the Seanchoiche workshops. This website would be funded to run for a year with the hopes that the OPW (the Government body for Culture and Heritage in Ireland) would take it over. If this does not end up being the case, the audio would be moved onto YouTube.

A small booklet would be produced for the event. This would be free and made from recycled paper. The booklet would contain:

• History of the Ash Tree in Ireland, with a focus on juts pagan and mythological significance.
• Information on Ash Dieback and its environmental/economic/social impact,
• Essays would be included that inspired the exhibition, including writing from Ailton Krenak and William Cronon
• Taking inspiration from Tino Sehgal, information would be provided on how to recreate your own storytelling event.

Ethics:

• Acknowledge Fionn Timmins work. It was an inspiration for the piece, a stepping stone for Fuinseoga.
• Get consent to record/archive/share stories that are told during the evening workshops
• Accessibility – hire an interpreter and transcribe stories put online

In terms of sustainability:

• Allow the piece to decompose naturally. 
• Source Ash trees that have naturally fallen, preferably due to the disease. Acknowledge impact for disease. 

Put people in direction of resources/support: 

• https://crann.ie/ – charity for trees in Ireland – ‘We run educational events where children learn how important trees are to people, our culture and heritage and the natural world’.

Theory:

• John Moriarty, Dreamtime, (1994)
• Ailton Krenak, Ancestral Futures (2019)
• William Cronon, The problem with Wilderness (1996)
• Lynn Abrams, Oral Theory (2010)
• Nancy McKay, Curating Oral Histories (2007)

Tj Demos, Claire Bishop, Grant Kester – all are being explored this weekend.

Budget and visuals of the layout will be the focus of my next blog.

Mar 28, 2025