A Living Archive of Ecological Memory and Cultural Connection

The Memory Palace of Tree Stories is a global storytelling initiative that gathers short video reflections about trees — as companions, symbols, witnesses, and sources of wisdom. It invites individuals from across different cultures, disciplines and generations, to share their stories and explore their relationship to nature and each other, creating a living archive that blends ecological awareness, cultural memory, and artistic expression.

Since its launch in 2020, over 112 stories on one video have been collected from China, Ireland, and across Europe – with each story a seed of empathy and remembrance, that together forms an evolving, multimedia memory palace to honor our interdependence with and reliance on the living world.  As such, the Memory Palace is more than a storytelling project. It is a participatory platform bridging art, environmental understanding, and community engagement

Curved Path (orange) 2.6.20 Sucrose, Niamh Cunningham 2020

The launch of this website was celebrated on April 2023  in An Gairdín Beo Community Garden, Carlow, Ireland. This marked the first physical exhibition of tree stories by numerous Story Tellers from Carlow, Ireland .

Some Other Recent and upcoming partnerships include:

• Carlow Garden Festival (Ireland, 2023) – supported by Creative Ireland and Carlow County Council
• Chengdu A4 Residency Art Centre (China, 2024) – with workshops and recordings
• Beijing Tree Story Series (China, 2025) – focusing on ancient trees & planting for biodiversity  expanding into schools, museums, and eco-art networks

A huge thank you to the amazing people in an Gairdín Beo especially sr Mary Carmody who was the first to offer support. This collective has since expanded from organised events with Carlow Tourism  and Carlow Garden Festival to community gatherings in China such as Chengdu A4 Residency Art Centre and most recently Summer 2025 with Beijing Forestery and Parks. This injection of community warmth and support has given me renewed energy and hope for the future and has strengthened my resolve for this socio-eco art practice.