Community Seed Ark – Seed Librarian at Bray Library

Strawberry tree seedlings (Arbutus unedo), germination test

The Community Seed Ark was originally established by the librarians with artist Aga Kowalska. With Elida Maiques as Bray Library’s Seed Librarian, she is curating a collection of open-pollinated, heritage seeds available for free to the public. Any library user from county Wicklow has access to an extensive seed list of vegetables, wildflowers and garden plants. The process is simple: borrow up to four seed envelopes, grow your plants, let some of those plants go to seed, harvest the seed and bring some of it back to the library.

The Community Seed Ark is member of http://www.seedlibraries.net.

The Sally Garden (IMMA)

A project started by Elida Maiques, planted in community during IMMA Earth Rising Eco Art Festival 2022.

A biodiversity haven where willow (sally/salley/salix) is coppiced yearly after flowering and fruiting. Willow rods are cut, harvested and stored for later use in weaving. The stools (tree stumps) remain alive, kept at ground level or up to 70cm.

This native tree is a truly sustainable material, it supports hundreds of species and is the basis for traditional arts such as willow weaving.

Livable futures for all will include willow.

The Sally Garden fits in a wheelbarrow.

A biomulch mat pegged with salvaged chopsticks helps the young trees establish.
A thick layer of bark mulch retains moisture and the biomulch mat in place.
Different willow varieties in striking purple, yellow, green, blue, selected by willow weaver Ciaran Hogan.

Tagged

Vault Studios, Imagine! Belfast Festival 2022, 26.03.22

Curated by Second Collective

“A unique workshop/performance/display/event at Vault Artist Studios, Tower Street, Belfast. TAGGED is a workshop-styled project exploring self-perception, self-image and words as tools for social control. Words (or tags) are often tools for othering, on the basis of intersecting gender, age, looks, heritage, social class but this workshop asks participants to reimagine these tags.” [Imagine! Belfast]