If Trees Could Talk

If Trees Could Talk is an exploration of artist Louis Haugh’s photographic work for primary school children. His photographs will be presented on a billboard in Portmarnock, Fingal, during May and June 2021 enabling children to view the work at scale.

The project will introduce the children to Louis’ photographic works as a starting point for conversations about trees. These photographs are a result of Louis’ body of research on the history of commercial forestry in Ireland and how Sitka spruce plantations have shaped the Irish landscape for the last 100 years. 

Louis will be joined by educator Anne Bradley and together they will lead the children in a series of engaging and practical workshops designed to explore a number of themes including botany, seed collecting, landscape, mythology and storytelling from indigenous North American culture where the Sitka spruce is a native tree.

The children will have the opportunity to engage and experiment with a number of visual processes including large scale photography, drawing, mapping and artist lead discussions on his photographic practice. Each child in the class will receive a multi-sensory discovery pack as part of these classroom-based workshops.

This project will be made available digitally to all primary schools in Fingal with special engagements in Portmarnock.  

Please see link to the project resources and video here  Link to video here 

See full details of Cruinniú na nÓg in Fingal here