NATURE SQUARED exhibition opens at the County Library, Tallaght Nature Squared is a public art project by Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly as part of the South Dublin County Council IN CONTEXT 5 Public Art Programme.
A complex assemblage of snapshots, nature photographs, video footage, maps and diary entries are woven together to tell the story of an unlikely collaboration between artists, adults with disabilities and teenagers to map plant biodiversity along a 6 km stretch of the River Dodder. The exhibition opens at the County Library in Tallaght on Saturday 07 November 2026 and runs until Saturday 14 November 2026, before moving to the County Hall from 16 – 20 November 2026. Throughout the spring and summer of 2026, members of the Cheeverstown community that supports children and adults with intellectual disabilities and pupils from St. Mac Dara's Community College undertook numerous trips along the river Dodder accompanied by artists Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly with the aim of surveying plant biodiversity along a 6 km stretch of the riverbank, aiming to build a picture of the extraordinary botanical diversity along our waterways, working together with community members.
The artists proposed using a simple scientific surveying device called a “quadrat”, a square frame that is placed on site to delineate a small area to take sample surveys along the Dodder with community members, while also photographing, drawing and taking biodiversity specimens along the way. Using the elements gathered during these field trips, the artists worked with participants from Cheeverstown and St. Mac Dara's to create 4 square artworks inspired by herbarium collections used in museums, creating a snapshot of the transient botanic conditions along the Dodder on a specific day in spring 2026.
Art teacher Lorraine Dingle, from St. Mac Dara's said "This was a great opportunity and fabulous collaboration with our ‘friendship programme ’to explore the Dodder's rich biodiversity. Anne and Denis were so informative and engaging."
The artists mapped and documented each quadrat square, meticulously photographing and listing the species present. The result is a fascinating exhibition combining maps, video projections, photographs, diary entries and pressed flower artwork, which attempts to convey the full depth of experience of this complex, multi-layered experiment in socially engaged environmental arts practice.
Anne Cleary remarked, "This simple square frame, a basic surveying tool used by scientists, provides a fabulous opportunity for making art. The frame becomes a formal device, focusing attention and elevating the significance of that which is captured within the frame."
Denis Connolly added "We hope to demonstrate the important role of art made and shared by citizens - in raising awareness and mobilising public response to the many problems of our environment, and we hope to nurture both scientific curiosity and artistic creativity to support and spark positive climate action in the unique and very special context of the Dodder linear park."
Paris based artists, Anne Cleary & Denis Connolly have shown in the Pompidou Centre, the Barbican and the Tate Modern. Participative and engaged, their work often involves collaborations with scientists, other artists and the public, taking many forms but focusing always on the act of looking - a conversation with the eye of the beholder. Since 2017 they have been practicing under the name “The School of Looking” to reflect this overarching programme of their work.Nature Squared is commissioned by South Dublin County Council for IN CONTEXT 5 — Connect, South Dublin County Council’s Public art programme under the Per Cent for Art.
www.connolly-cleary.com/NatureSquared/DODDER.html
www.incontext.ie/projects/in-context-5-strand-2-commissions/nature-squared
For queries relating to the IN CONTEXT programme, please contact:
Rina Whyte, IN CONTEXT Programme Manager, rinawhyte@yahoo.com
Richie O’Sullivan, SDCC Assistant Arts Officer – Public Art, richieosullivan@sdublincoco.ie
