‘Leabhar na gClaí: Know Your Hedgerows’ opening Friday 4 until Sunday 6 September, 10.00am to 5.00pm at the Tea Houses.
Celebrate National Hedgerow Week with a pop-up exhibition and public programme offering an opportunity to encounter this unique handmade book created by Kasia Kaminska, the Know Your Hedgerows Cooperative Enquiry, text by Paddy Doyle and guest contributors.
The book traces a two-year journey across fields, townlands and seasons, exploring the rich relationships between people, hedgerows and place. Storm-felled ash forms its covers, hawthorn berries were used to dye its cloth, while nettle fibre was used for its endpapers and thread. These materials bind the stories together, weaving the relationship between people and hedgerows into the physical fabric of the book.
Following its recent exhibition nestled within a hedgerow in North Kilkenny, returning the book to the landscape that inspired it, where visitors were invited to encounter it among the plants, insects, birds and other beings that make the hedgerow their home. The Tea Houses iteration invites visitors to spend time with the book and discover the stories, traditions, skills and ecological knowledge held within Ireland’s hedgerows.
Know Your Hedgerows is an initiative by the Acorn Project and supported by Kilkenny LEADER Partnership (KLP). The project explores how communities can work together towards the stewardship of our hedgerows, ensuring that the knowledge, traditions and relationships held within these living boundaries continue to be shared with future generations.
Supported by the National Heritage Council, Kilkenny Arts Office, Kilkenny County Council and Arts Council, Ireland.
Public Programme
- Saturday 5 September, 11.00am to 1.00pm: Hedgerow Walk
- Saturday 5 September, 3.00pm to 5.00pm: Leabhar na gClaí Celebration with readings, music and refreshments from hedgerows
