UCC Library presents a conversation between Katie Holten and Dr Maria Kirrane about The Language of Trees.

This in-person event is open to everyone. It is free of charge but registration is essential. Registration closes 12 hours before the event. The Creative Zone is on the ground floor of the Boole Library.

Event Description

Katie Holten will share a behind the scenes look at some of her recent work including the Irish Tree Alphabet, which is in the collection of the Crawford Art Gallery, and her new book, The Language of Trees. Inspired by forests, leaves, roots, and seeds, The Language of Trees is a love letter to trees, exploring how trees make our world, stretch our minds and rewild our landscapes and lives. Artist Katie Holten will guide you on a journey from prehistoric cave paintings and creation myths to the death of a 3,500 year-old cypress tree, from Tree Clocks in Mongolia and forest fragments in the Amazon to the language of fossil poetry, unearthing incredible the hidden secrets of the trees that surround us and acting as an urgent reminder of what could happen if we allow them to slip away. Holten investigates the entangled relationships between humans and the natural world with her Tree Alphabet, which she uses throughout the book to masterfully translate and illuminate this incredible forest of writing and writers.  

Please note the event will be recorded. 

Katie Holten Biography

Katie Holten is an artist and activist, born in Ireland and living in New York City and Ardee, Ireland. In 2003, she represented Ireland at the Venice Biennale. She has had solo exhibitions at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and Dublin City Gallery: The Hugh Lane. Her drawings investigate the entangled relationships between humans and the natural world. She has created Tree Alphabets, a Stone Alphabet, and a Wildflower Alphabet to share the joy she finds in her love of the more-than-human world. Her work has appeared in the Irish Times, New York Times, Artforum, and frieze. She is a visiting lecturer at the New School of the Anthropocene. If she could be a tree, she would be an Oak. https://www.katieholten.com / @katieholten (Twitter)

Dr Maria Kirrane Biography

Maria holds a BSc. in Environmental Science from UCC and a PhD in Ecology, undertaken between UCC and the United States Department of Agriculture in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  As the Head of Sustainability and Climate Action for UCC, Maria is tasked with delivering the University's Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (2023-28) which seeks to embed the SDGs across all functions of the University.  She led the University in becoming the first in the world to be awarded a Green Flag from the Foundation for Environmental Education, and the first outside of North America to be awarded a STARS Gold rating from the Foundation for Environmental Education.  Maria established and manages UCC's Green Campus Living Laboratory Programme which supports staff and students to develop and deliver their own sustainability projects.  Research interests are principally around environmental education and innovative approaches to improving environmental performance, circular economy and biodiversity conservation. Research Profile

UCC Library

UCC Library's Special Collections holds a limited edition copy of Katie Holten's Notional: field notes within its Coracle Press collection and used a limited edition poster of Holten's 'Trees Typeface' with events during the Life on Land: Trees and Birds from the 17th Century to the Present exhibition.

UCC Library began its sustainability initiative in 2016. Since then, it has implemented an award-winning sustainability campaign ‘Love our Library’. Through this campaign UCC Library succeeded in reducing its energy and water consumption, increased recycling rates, reduced waste and has made strides in sustainable transport. UCC Library has been a lever for change within UCC's community and has been the model for sustainability initiatives within UCC. UCC Library continues to advance its sustainability goals with new initiatives including mapping Special Collections & Archives' collections to the SDGs to promote the collections, collaborating with UCC's Building & Estates and Green Towers Ireland by installing three aeroponic towers and contributing to education for sustainable development by transforming learning environments.