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The free stories come from Chengdu , they emerge from the A4 Artist Residency in September-October 2024 which explored different aspects on sustainable living. A huge thank you to all the Tree Story Tellers who came to the CPI Festival workshops.

We come to the last of the Tree Stories (# 91 – 111) from the A4 Artist Residency in Chengdu. For story # 111 Kong Lingli speaks of the comfort of tree Shade

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Lingling’s words:

You can call me Lingling

My impression of trees mostly comes from being under a tree

Like sitting under a tree now

I like to stay under the shade of a tree

It makes me feel safe I also like to be in the sun

The sun is very strong but there is a shadow under the tree

I like to stay there and look outside the tree

I like to stay in the shade and look at the sun

For me, a tree is a semi-open space

A tree is like a natural building, although it is outdoors

yet it makes me feel like I am at home.

Compared to the image of a whole tree

My impression of a tree is more about its subtleties

I like to look at the texture of the tree.

Of course, what impressed me the most was actually

Watching ants moving and watching ants climbing trees

This kind of observation is very intriguing,

I find it fascinating , its really fun

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Acknowledgments

A sincere thank you to A4 Art Centre and Residency for your support throughout preparations, workshops and recordings. Special thanks to videographer Xiao Qin 晓琴 and her camera team with Chen Yiyang 陈优扬 and of course to all the people who contributed their tree stories here. This is an important form of support and validation for this socio eco art practice encouraging further collaborations and allowing it to evolve into a more global practice.

 

Click here for  Blog on A4 Residency Experience

 

 

# 1 Teardrops After a Storm                reflections on a Willow after the pandemic

# 2 Pomegranate Tree                           in balance with life and nature

# 3 Trees are like Humans                 shared characteristics between humans and trees

# 4 Old Ash–A Real Survivor            resilience of an old ash  in the Cork countryside

# 5 Tree Rings of Life                            parallel  growth and development of people and trees

# 6 A Very Weird Elf                           roots and what grows beneath

# 7 Old Crabapple of Wenhua Dian   ancient crabapple orchard in the Forbidden City

# 8 Standing Fast                                ‘ … weight is cherished when we care’   a poem on steadfastness

# 9 Feeling Good – Tree Song             a song of joy and spontaneity in Daizu language

#10 Forest Breath – Tree Story        ‘….400 million years of forest breath’

#11 Protective Peach – Tree Story   …peach wood placed under a child’s pillow

#12 Bee Tree Sycamore                        can produce the same pollen of a half an acre of  wild flowers

#13 Winter Apples                      ‘…a dim burn glistens from the frosted skin’  a poem on winter fruit

#14 Ancient Yew Trees    the traces of a church moved brick by brick across the river 100 years ago

#15 Once I Counted Birds              on one of the Cook islands where no people live  (AGB -An Gairdín Beo April workshops 2023)

#16 Family Oak                                  the passing of saplings through friends and family                 (AGB)

#17 When the Trees Say Everything    finding your identity and way of life                               (AGB)

#18 Strawberry Tree                         Strawberry tree in ‘the Gairdin Beo’ community garden     (AGB)

#19 Mother Oak and Baby Oak    a link to Cnoc an Doirin                                                           (AGB)

#20 My Leylandii                              a seemingly bland tree  linking past and present                   (AGB)

#21 Chestnut Repotted                a volunteer working at ‘the Gairdin Beo’ community garden  (AGB)

#22 Native Birch                               transplanting  Irish Birch                                                             (AGB)

#23 Ethan’s Tree                              a heartbreaking story about a tree in Carlow’s town park      (AGB)

#24 Holding Trunk of Time        a haiku on the trunk of time                                                      (AGB)

#25 Our Mother’s Legacy                a memory of teaching her children the latin names of plants   (AGB)

#26 It Blossomed                                    ‘… the power to change my mood’                                        (AGB)

#27 Always Trying To Hold Each Other Up   ‘… a gentle breeze comes and they get excited’      (AGB)

#28 Wollemi Pine                                      ‘…I am one of the oldest and rarest trees’                        (AGB)

#29 Barrow Willow                                  ‘…holding the river bank together’                                     (AGB)

#30 For What We Might Become       ‘ ..roots clutching soil ripe with a lifeforce’                         (AGB)

#31 Sheltering Beech                        growing up in the countryside  a story with a shocking ending   (AGB)

#32 Millennium Monkey Puzzle    a story connecting family and time                                          (AGB)

#33 Monterey Cyprus                            ‘….  the amazing woody wonder’                                          (AGB)

#34 Struggle On, Struggle On        ‘.. blossoms brightly before being swallowed by its white cousin’   (AGB)

#35 Like A Chestnut       imagining the journey of a chestnut in 1500’s while sitting under its tree   (AGB)

#36 Head and Shoulders Above the Rest    Californian Redwood, the giant, the king of trees     (AGB)

#37 An Dair Sean                                   Old Oak – ultimate wisdom                                                     (AGB)

#38 Trees for the Forest        a reflection on centuries of fossil fuel use and a strive for regeneration   (AGB)

#39 The year 1710               counting the rings on an old oak stump with forester  Michael Sommers   (AGB)

#40  I Feel at Peace                  a collaborative response to trees, from Delta Centre Hanover

#41 Chongqing Cedar              the trees of Zhaomushan Park can pull the heart strings homeward

#42 Fire Vine Bauhinia                        Hani and the Dai cultures view this plant very differently          (XTBG XishuangbannaTropical Botanical Gardens)

#43 Bamboo – Flutter           a special bamboo used for cooking rice , it also has a unique flutter  (XTBG)

#44 St Anne’s Oak                  childhood memory of being with her brothers  and hiding from bullies (CGF – Carlow Garden Festival August 2023)

#45 Angie’s Umbrella Tree    A weeping Elm holding twisted branches called the ‘granny’s chair’  (CGF)

#46  Berna’s Umbrella Tree                     a memory of  outsmarting grandmother                               (CGF)

#47 Hawthorne , it gives and it gives…a fairy tree, a boundary tree , the blossoms smell divine      ( CGF)

#48 Apple Tree Swing                         memories of a beautiful summers day                                        (CGF)

#49 Forest Bathing 1                         ‘ …throw out your yoga mats and settle yourself into the ground  (CGF)

#50 Forest Bathing 2                   ‘ …. you start to notice all the animals , the owls and the red squirrels (CGF)

#51  Mulberry                                      when swiss watches were almost made in Waterford                (CGF)

#52 Prunus Kanzan                        ‘…..It was like confetti. It was just such a remarkable sight to see.’  (CGF)

#53 Oak We absolutely love it        ‘…Children love playing on it  and they have a swing on it’  (CGF)

#54 Pre-Famine Timber                   ‘….two and a half miles of river Slaney ’                                     (CGF)

#55 Slogged Apples                         ‘….We used to build huts up there on the tree’                          (CGF)

#56 Ash  Determined to stay put      two sisters share a memory of an Ash in Ennis County Clare  (CGF)

#57 Best Apple Tart in Headford      ‘…four girls would stand under and shake it’                       (CGF)

#58 Apple Tree of Clonmel              …..a little plantation of apple trees in memory of people        (CGF)

#59 Horizontal Arbutus Unedo        ‘… when they are actually on the ground lying beside you ‘      (CGF)

#60 Euonymus Zones             ‘….when April came she opened with a simple dress of sapling green’    (CGF)

#61 How big they can get                   ‘…to see them growing up over the years’                             (CGF)

#62 Autumn Maple                              a family tradition of Sunday walks in the park                     (CGF)

#63 The Magic of Moss                      the impact of a moss covered tree on a non verbal young boy  (CGF)

#64 Gallipoli and the Sycamore  planted in the early 1900’s by  Anthony Wheatley                  (CGF)

#65 Liquid Amber ‘…..full leaf colour , red orange yellow absolutely aflame ‘                                (CGF)

#66 Hardymount Chestnut ‘….when half of it fell down it kept us warm for about a year’           (CGF)

#67 Silver Birch – a gentle and lovely ending ‘……it just gently fell, like a kind of a yawn’            (CGF)

#68 Keeping Black Bird Company  ‘… for  years it appeared that the same blackbird came back(CGF)

#69 Tulip Tree                                    ‘….. It was said that after about 15 years it would bloom ‘     (CGF)

#70 Itea Iliciafolia                           ‘……So every year it reminds me …’                                                (CGF)

#71 Silver Birch Moonlight  ‘…. the full moon was right smack in the middle of the three of them’  (CGF)

#72 The Shape of it                                    how to recognize Silver Birch and Oak                             (CGF)

#73 The Missing Gorilla                  mistaken identity,  one of the rare few funny tree stories !    (CGF)

#74 The Tree House                               ‘…. we spent many years down by the river ‘                      (CGF)

#75 Bat Burglars                recall how their trees introduced birds and bats to the garden           (CGF)

#76 The Perfect Conker        a boyhood quest to find the best one                                                  (CGF)

#77 Ginkgo Biloba and Sweet Gum      Rachel Doyle tells of her favourite trees                         (CGF)

#78 Ash The Horse Whisperer        training horses under a huge Ash tree                                   (CGF)

#79 Healers                                         A story of healing and a love of trees                                     (CGF)

#80 Fairy Ash                                     an old ash  with burly roots holding little pools of water     (CGF)

#81 Under the Oak                         memories of growing  up on a farm surrounded by trees       (CGF)

#82 Date Palm                The life line of the Arabian Dessert for thousands of years

#83 Willow – Branching out      preventing the felling of a tree on the grounds of an embassy

#84 Tree Bee Hive                             creating natural habitats for honey bees

#85 Flaky Bark Birch                    the unexpected sight of red flaky bark flickering in the wind    (CECS Chengdu Europe Culture Season -May 2024)

#86 Devine Tree of SanXingduia lyrical response to largest archaeological bronze treesculpture (CECS)

#87 Pagoda Tree                         a former residence of a French poet at a taoist temple in the woods (RUC-CW Mount West series)

#88 Encounter                                     Reflections in Dr Bussières garden                                    (RUC-CW Mount West series)

#89 Maples of a Hundred Years     two special maple trees in Xishan                                      (RUC-CW Mount West series)

#90 French Chestnut                  …time has condensed into a deep point in me’                         (RUC-CW Mount West series)

#91 The Greatest Blessing           caretaking for plants and animals is a blessing      (A4 artist residency Chengdu Sept-Oct 2024)

#92 Little Red Basin                     childhood memories                                                      (A4 artist residency)

#93 Ginkgo of Baihuatan           Chengdu Ginkgos                                                           (A4 artist residency )

#94 Trees of Fuhu Temple        the special wood of nanmu                                           (A4 artist residency)

#95 Magnolia Tree                     being stopped in your tracks by an unexpected sight (A4 artist residency)

#96 A Place called Fairy Tree        A magical tree that can no longer be found          (A4 artist residency)

#97 A Tree Transplanted               finding the same tree everywhere                            (A4 artist residency)

#98 Different Branches                 solitary explorations in the park                               (A4 artist residency)

#99 The Trees are Whispering    Contemplating woodland communications            (A4 artist residency)

#100 Euonymus acquifolium     Plant Hunter                                                                    (A4 artist residency)

#101 Tree Dance Austria        A choreographer spends a week with a tree                  (A4 artist residency)

#102 Tree Shadows    …  interplays with light as it swings in the breeze                       (A4 artist residency)

#103 Two Trees        interdependent attachment, love  and growth                             (A4 artist residency)

#104 Children’s Games       The games that we play                                                         (A4 artist residency)

#105 The Highest Climber     A point marked by chalk from the class room                (A4 artist residency)

#106 Tenacity         A careless moment turns to courage and resilience                       (A4 artist residency)

#107 Osmanthus Tree      fragrant tree taken down                                                         (A4 artist residency)

#108 Blue Eucalyptus   the persuit of Art and Nature                                                     (A4 artist residency)

#109 Home  a micro perspective         An ecosystem that feels like home                (A4 artist residency)

#110 Grandma’s Walnut and Mulberry      The passing of time                                    (A4 artist residency)

#111 Under the Shade of a Tree       A semi open space                                                 (A4 artist residency)

#112 Rowan – Mountain Ash      berries and mistlethrush

 

 

 

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Open Call for your just a minute Tree Story on video 

Memory Palace of Tree Stories is a socio-ecological art practice which invites you to tell a story or share information about trees . It is a creative-led social enquiry of how we can live well for both personal and collective wellbeing. Your story can be any kind of tree story , a personal tree story, a botanical tree story , an environmental tree story, an historical tree story or even a humourous tree story. I do hope you can contribute a comment on how we can live better with the greater community of life.

 

The year 2025 we continue to gather your stories in the form of one minute videos and we are really looking forward to hearing your tree story. I can be contacted directly on this platform or on the contact page on this website.

 

Niamh Cunningham