Marielle MacLeman, Wake, 2026. Installation view at ATRL: Arts, Research, Technology Laboratory, Trinity College Dublin, 2026. Courtesy of the artist and The Douglas Hyde.
Curated by Aoife McCloughlin as part of the 2025 Provost’s Fellowship in Curating at The Douglas Hyde Gallery of Contemporary Art.
Saturday 7th February 2026
Venue: ATRL: Arts, Technology, Research Laboratory, Trinity College Dublin.
Reclaiming Nature is a public event that examines how art encourages us to reimagine our relationship with the natural world. Through a new artist commission by Marielle MacLeman, film screening by Aoife Desmond and panel discussion, the event brings together artworks that examine humans’ relationship to nature in the midst of environmental and ecological collapse. Contemplating the transience of our ecosystems, the programme reflects on the ways humans can positively engage with the natural world. The event has been developed by Aoife McCloughlin, 2025 Provost’s Fellow in Curating at The Douglas Hyde, and builds on her interest in the relationship between art and ecology.
The event opens with a screening of artist Aoife Desmond’s new film, WE HONOUR, WE LAMENT (2025). The film was made as part of the art project RIVER GUARDIANS, a collaboration with a river and community. Beautifully shot on 16mm, the film documents collective actions on the Bandon River from Imbolg to Lughnasa, as community living on the banks of the river attempt to restore care for the water system. Through a series of collaborative seasonal engagements, from tree planting, feasting, storytelling and dancing, the local community contemplates their concerns for the river.
Marielle MacLeman, Wake, 2026. Installation view at ATRL: Arts, Research, Technology Laboratory, Trinity College Dublin, 2026. Courtesy of the artist and The Douglas Hyde.
A newly commissioned artwork by artist Marielle MacLeman will be presented in the event space. MacLeman’s work considers human impact on the natural environment, often using reclaimed materials and natural dyes to invite viewers to reflect on their relationship with the natural world. Somewhere between celebration and commemoration, her new commission is imbued with a feeling of hope in a time that can often feel hopeless in the face of climate calamity. An exploration of nature and architectural space; these spatial arrangements will create a dialogue between the natural and the manmade, commenting on the fragility of ecosystems.
Reclaiming Nature Panel Discussion, 2026. Event at ATRL: Arts, Technology, Research Laboratory, Trinity College Dublin. Courtesy of The Douglas Hyde.
A panel discussion moderated by Aoife McCloughlin brings together artistic and academic voices to reflect on concerns between art and the vulnerability of ecology. Aoife Desmond and Marielle MacLeman will discuss their practices and shared lines of enquiry around in relation to care for ecosystems. Joining them in this discussion will be Gareth Kennedy, Course Coordinator on the Art and Ecology programme in the NCAD Field- a site where art and design students engage with critical ecological thought and action. Bringing knowledge from her ongoing research into understanding the science of climate change and biodiversity loss, Professor Jennifer McElwain, Head of Botany at Trinity College Dublin, will join the discussion.
Reclaiming Nature aims to generate discussion around the complex relationship between humans and the natural world, exploring the points where ecology, art and community intertwine.
Programme Schedule
14:00 – 14:15 | Welcome
Welcome by Dr Georgina Jackson, Dr Sven Anderson, Provost Dr Linda Doyle, followed by an introduction by Provost’s Fellow in Curating, Aoife McCloughlin.
14:15 – 15:00 | Film Screening
Aoife Desmond, WE HONOUR, WE LAMENT (2025), 45 minutes
15:00 – 15:15 | Break
15:15 – 16:00 | Panel Discussion, Q&A
Speakers Aoife Desmond (Artist), Gareth Kennedy (Lecturer in Sculpture and Expanded Practice at NCAD), Marielle MacLeman (Artist), and Professor Jennifer McElwain (Chair of Botany at Trinity College Dublin). Moderated by Aoife McCloughlin.
13:30 – 16:30 | Artwork
Marielle MacLeman, Wake, silk, natural dyes and inks, starch, 2026. Site-specific installation.
Contributor’s Bios
Aoife Desmond (1974, Ireland) Filmmaker, Visual Artist and Performer. In her work she prioritises embodied knowledge and explores materiality, site and human/non-human relationships. She works in response to environmental crisis and rupture with an emphasis on restorative practices. Based in Cork, Aoife works locally, nationally and internationally on solo and collaborative projects. Recent key film works are; Bury Our Hearts At The Bend Of The River (2023), sirius – harbour’s mouth (2023), Mná & Sons (2022), A Boated Roof (2022). Recent screenings include Lima Alterna Peru, Marienbad Film Festival Czech Republic, RAI Film Festival Bristol, ICA London, IMMA Earth Rising, Cork International Film Festival, Sirius Arts Centre, aemi Dissolutions Film Festival.
Gareth Kennedy is an artist and lecturer in Sculpture at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. His work as an artist includes public art commissions, workshops, education projects, exhibitions, residencies and collaborations. He has produced and exhibited work nationally and across Europe and the United States. Since 2020, he is lead coordinator of NCAD FIELD, a site beside the college which through radical pedagogies is being appraised as a place of third level outdoor learning combining art, design and ecological research. Kennedy runs accredited outdoor courses in the FIELD at undergraduate level and together with artist colleagues Seoidin O’Sullivan and Mark Clare, runs the Creative Futures Academy Professional Certificate and Diploma in Art and Ecology. In 2025-26, he is an Urban Fields artist in residence as part of L’Internationale Museum of the Commons Climate Assembly and was the resident artist on the Rhizome Residency with Kilkenny Arts Office which formed part of research into the Roots for the Future Climate Art Assembly. He is a member of the All-Island Climate and Biodiversity Research Network.
Born in Scotland and based in Ireland, Marielle MacLeman’s practice is concerned with the material traces of progress and decline. Melding craft and fine art processes with context-specific details, her artworks literally and metaphorically reconstitute remnants to explore ideas of care and value. Recent solo presentations include The Visitors at Butler Gallery, To Impermanent Collections and Scattered Acquisitions at Kunstverein Aughrim and We are collecting today for tomorrow at Etnografski Muzej Zagreb. Major group shows include The Air at BIEN 2025 in Slovenia, Staying with the Trouble at IMMA, Take Hold at CCA Derry-Londonderry, Swallowing Geography at Regional Cultural Centre and Speech Sounds at VISUAL. She was awarded a Landscape, Ecology & Environment Research Residency 2023/24 at Leitrim Sculpture Centre and her work is included in collections at University of Galway, Layer House, Kranj, and the Arts Council Collection.
Aoife McCloughlin is the 2025 Provost’s Curatorial Fellow at The Douglas Hyde. Aoife graduated from National College of Art and Design with a BA Joint Honours in Fine Art Sculpture and Critical Cultures in 2022. She worked as an Exhibition Mediator at the Irish Pavilion, Niamh O’Malley’s ‘Gather’, at the 59th Venice Biennale. The following year Aoife was an intern at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. She also has experience supporting and facilitating education events for Sculpture Dublin’s Creative Engagement Programme, The Ark Children’s Cultural Centre, Rua Red South Dublin Arts Centre and the Chester Beatty. In 2024 McCloughlin received her MPhil in the History of Art and Architecture at Trinity College Dublin, specialising in the study of Irish art, and completing her dissertation, entitled; The Lifecycle of Public Art: The Anna Livia and Molly Malone sculptures from Inception to Public Reception, 1988– present. Aoife presented a paper on this research at the 2024 Irish Association of Art Historians Annual Symposium and at a Research Seminar for the Department of History of Art & Architecture at Trinity College Dublin.
Jennifer McElwain is Professor of Botany in the School of Natural Sciences in the Discipline of Botany at Trinity College Dublin. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society and Member of the Royal Irish Academy. Professor McElwain leads an active research team interested in understanding how Earth’s atmosphere and plant life have changed and interacted over millions of years. This research serves as a baseline to inform current understanding of the science of climate change and biodiversity loss. She established and Co-Directs the Environmental Science and Engineering Programme (TR064) at Trinity which integrates teaching in the natural sciences and engineering. She is also the Director of Trinity College Botanic Garden, an historic college garden established in 1687. Professor McElwain is an award winning scientist, author and educator and regularly collaborates with artists.
Aoife McCloughlin 