New Irish project explores the stories our landscapes are telling us

With the annual Skibbereen Arts Festival kicking off this weekend, many have set their sights on West Cork where a special eco-arts project is set to begin its first ever national tour.

Named Dinnseanchas, meaning the stories told by a place, the project was created by leading nature restoration charity, Hometree, and will visit Skibbereen from 29 July to 2 August.

Dinnseanchas on Tour creates spaces where artists, local communities, and visitors can imagine new possibilities for the landscapes they call home. Through art and participatory creative practice, it opens conversations around climate change, biodiversity loss, and the social and economic pressures shaping rural Ireland today.

At the heart of the project is An Scioból, an immersive exhibition at the Courtyard Gallery featuring photography, film, artworks and artefacts gathered over a year-long creative journey through upland communities from Gartan in Donegal to the Coomhola Valley in West Cork. Around the exhibition, a programme of walks, performances, workshops, and conversations will unfold across Skibbereen, its surrounding landscape, and Bere Island.

Each stop on the tour will respond to its own unique landscape and community, creating new opportunities for local people to contribute to the evolving story of Dinnseanchas.

David Teevan, Dinnseanchas on Tour curator, said: “Dinnseanchas isn't about presenting finished answers. It's about creating spaces where people can encounter a place differently and begin asking new questions together. Every community we visit adds another layer to the work, making the project richer, more surprising, and deeply rooted in the landscapes and people who shape it.”

Since its inception in 2023, Dinnseanchas has brought together artists, ecologists, landowners, and rural communities to explore the cultural dimensions of nature restoration. The touring programme marks the next chapter in that journey, extending the conversation to new communities along Ireland's Atlantic coast.

Alongside the touring programme, Hometree will launch a film next month documenting the project's year-long journey across upland communities and capturing how creativity can help communities reimagine their relationship with the natural world.

Laura Costello, Chief Communications Officer at Hometree, said: “Nature restoration isn't only about restoring habitats. It's also about restoring our relationship with place. Dinnseanchas creates space for people to slow down, listen differently, and imagine what the future of their landscapes could become. Through art, we're opening conversations that environmental science alone often cannot. Every landscape holds stories, memories and possibilities, and those stories are essential if we're to build a future where both nature and communities can thrive.”