VEGETAL VOICES

This short experimental film delves into Irish imperial history through the lens of botany, offering a speculative narrative to examine its social, historical, and political impact on contemporary Irish society. Using a non-linear structure, the film interweaves specific locations, somatic movement, and object interaction to unravel a complex historical narrative that blends fact with contemporary interpretation. The story unfolds across several locations, such as Botanic Gardens Dublin, where the protagonist explores the Herbarium. As she opens archive cabinets, vast stacks of fern collection folios are revealed, their contents dating back to the 19th century, when ferns were collected for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London in 1886. The narrative shifts to St. Anne’s Park, once the site of an Anglo-Irish Big House owned by Lord Ardilaun, better known as Sir Arthur Guinness. The film traces his role in introducing exotic plants to Ireland and developing public parks like St. Stephen’s Green. These parks, rooted in imperial ideology, were seen as tools for social reform by the middle and upper classes. A focal point of the film is the story of 'Cordyline australis', a native New Zealand tree that was introduced to Ireland during this period. Once prized as an exotic addition to Irish landscapes, this species has since grown wild, becoming an invasive presence in certain regions. Its spread symbolises the unintended consequences of colonial botanical practices. In another location, a former Anglo-Irish Big House that once belonged to the Duke of Abercorn, animation and performative responses bring to life the gendered social constructions of the past, even reflected in the furniture of the era. The final scene takes place in a 19th-century tree fern plantation in Kerry, where a once-cultivated species, 'Dicksonia antarctica', has also grown wild, further emphasising the enduring impact of colonial botany. Through these interconnected vignettes, the film offers a layered exploration of Ireland’s botanical and imperial legacy, inviting viewers to reflect on the lasting effects of history on the present.