Wicklow exhibition focuses on horticulture, gardening and biodiversity
Selected works by Irish, Spanish and British artists consider the effects and legacy of colonialism, horticulture and the garden as a status symbol, inviting the audience to explore post-colonial horticultural practice and histories.
An accompanying programme of public engagement events draws on Elida Maique's community-based practice as founder of The Mermaid Garden Project (2021-present), her role as Bray Library Seed Librarian and as facilitator of the guerrilla gardening, project Edible Bray.
There is also a publication to be launched in tandem, called A Garden Sampler, which contains texts, gardening notes, lore, radical histories and observations drawn from Ireland's relationship to gardening and horticulture. The book costs €10 and is available from Mermaid's Box Office.
The exhibition is curated by Elida Maiques and Anne Mullee and the supporting events – all free are available to book now. The full programme is as follows:
Saturday, July 26, 12pm: Curators' tour. Join the curators of the exhibition for a tour of diverse works that each touch on the politics and history of horticulture, gardens, biodiversity and colonialism.
Saturday, August 9, 11.30am: Join artist Louis Haugh on this creative and hands-on mask-making workshop, where participants are invited to cut, tear, bend and shape Louis's own photographs of trees to create a custom forest mask.
Saturday, August 16, 11.30am: Pollinators are at risk, bumblebees are in danger and food security is under threat. This performance-lecture devised by artist Yvanna Greene tells the tale of a unique symbiotic relationship between Bombus purpura, a new species of bumblebee, and Rhododendron Ponticum, the popular but invasive ornamental shrub that proliferates around Ireland. This is a story of rapid evolution leading to a future that is sure to satisfy all interested parties and guarantee tomatoes on supermarket shelves in each and every season.
Thursday, August 28, 11.30am: Curious about contemporary art but not sure how to join the conversation? Then this 'Slow Looking' session is for you. Over 90 minutes, facilitator Donna Carroll will introduce some simple routines and techniques to enhance your experience of sitting with some of the works in the group exhibition.
Saturday, August 30, 11am: Moss Collective invites participants to contribute to the Gestures: A Continuity of Care, an outdoor, experimental space for thinking through communal action and making. This is a collective art performance focusing on the saplings trees on the common soil of Bray Head.
Saturday, September 27, 11am: Edible Bray Walking Tour invites you to join Elida Maiques for a walking tour of some of Edible Bray's growing sites, where members of Common Ground Bray nurture tiny gardens in often forgotten 'common areas' around the town. The group will meet at Albert Walk and visit some gardens along the trail. From 1pm-4pm, there will be a Plant + Seed Swap, where anyone interested in gardening or growing can bring spare cuttings, harvested seeds, unwanted house plants, pots or compost to share, swap and exchange knowledge and expertise.
The curators for Composting Colonialism: Towards the Radical Garden are: Samantha Brown (UK), Padraig Cunningham (IRL), Grace Enemaku (IRL), Yvanna Greene (IRL), Louis Haugh (IRL), Marianne Keating (IRL), Elida Maiques (ES), Siobhan McGibbon (IRL), Laura Ní Fhlaibhín (IRL) and Harold Offeh (UK).
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