I am honoured to have been invited to the Sorbonne Nouvelle this week to share insights from Haumea Ecoversity and my ongoing ecological art practice The Hollywood Forest Story.
I will be joining other Irish and French eco-creatives. I so excited to be reconnecting with Irish artists I admire so much Katie Holten, Dr Eileen Hutton from the Burren College of Art and Dr Christine Mackey and also to learn of French ecoart activity. Irish stone sculptor, Martin Lyttle of Lithicworks.com will be joining me and we are also delighted to be visiting the Cultural Irlandais Centre for the first time.
I will be talking about how I developed knowledge of the emergent ecoart field through my ongoing Hollywood Forest Story and my work in recent years to develop an independent ecoversity to facilitate transformative ecoliteracy learning for 360+ creatives and cultural professionals.
I’m also extremely honoured that my Earth Charter mentor Prof Emeritus Peter Blaze Corcoran and friend to other Irish Earth Charter learners will be joining us. Peter, Martin and I will be sharing conviviality around universal ecosocial values with some Irish food on the Earth Charter Peace Platter commissioned from the Carlow Arts Office-led Irish Arts Council ‘Invitation to Collaborate’ Gnáthóga Nádúrtha | Natural Habitats three counties Carlow, Kildare and Meath creative engagement for peatland restoration programme, to which I have been offering ecoliteracy training 2022-2024.
It will be wonderful to reflect, with others, how the peoples’ Earth Charter, translated as it is into 65 languages, including French – La Chartre de la Earth (see below) – and now Irish (through the translation work of gaeilgeoir & artist Phoebe Cope), can help us connect us to our French neighbours and common ecosocial concerns.
“Art Activism & Ecoart Activities in Ireland” study day
May 16, 2024 at the Sorbonne Nouvelle (Salle Athéna, Maison de la Recherche).
The day is organized by the research center in Irish and Northern Irish studies ERIN* (EA PRISMES, Sorbonne Nouvelle) and the EMMA team (Université Paul Valéry- Montpellier 3), with the support of GIS EIRE.
Irish and Northern Irish Studies and Research (ERIN)
Irish Studies at Sorbonne Nouvelle University has always been distinguished by the transdisciplinary nature of the activities and methods of research. The team includes historians, sociologists, literary scholars, specialists of medical humanities, material, gender and translation studies. Their expertise leads to Protean readings of the stakes and specificities of Ireland in its entirety.
The original Irish studies group (Gael/Gall) was founded by Professor Paul Brennan in the early 1990s, building on the earlier work of René Frechet and Claude Jacquet. Paul Brennan directed the group with energy and gusto until his sudden death in 2003. Professor Wesley Hutchinson took over upon his appointment to the chair of Irish Civilization. He enriched the scope of studies through his approach to Northern Irish issues, notably via his pioneering work on minority languages (Ulster-Scots and Gaelic), working closely with Professor Carle Bonafous-Murat.
Today ERIN works in close partnership with several world-class universities specializing in Irish studies (Notre Dame, UCC, UCD and Liverpool among others). It also benefits from the support of the Irish Embassy in Paris and, with the Center Culturel Irlandais , organizes symposia, study days, and a monthly seminar , ” Irish Thursdays” .
The Irish studies research team at the Sorbonne Nouvelle brings together teacher-researchers and young doctoral students working on Ireland in the fields of human and social sciences, literature and visual arts.
The ERIN-Pôle Ireland research laboratory benefits
from a partnership with the Irish Cultural Center of Paris , with which it has signed an agreement to jointly organize events and meetings around writers or artists.
https://www.centreculturelirlandais.com
My sincere thanks to Marion Naugrette-Fournier, Representative of GIS EIRE for the ERIN research center (EA Prismes, Sorbonne Nouvelle of Sorbonne Nouvelle, for the invitation to share our work.
The UNESCO-endorsed peoples Earth Charter (2000) was the inspiration for a French-commissioned book Hey 4 Degrees Art book (2016) where invited fine artists –who engage with nature themes –were to invited to reflect on the universal Earth Charter principles and their work.
“What position should HEY! take with regard to the complex scope of environmental issues, given that art remains our only weapon? Our search for an answer to this question led to our discovery of the Earth Charter, which then became the catalyst for this special issue. We decided to prepare eleven questions based on the guidelines of the Earth Charter, and pose them to 112 artists who had already been published in the magazine. They are not “eco-painters”, “eco-warriors”, or environmentalists who use art to put their thoughts into concrete form. United with us around a variety of points of view and approaches, all concerned and dismayed by the state of the world, deeply disturbed by the treatment to which our planet is being subjected, they seized an opportunity to express themselves outside of their preferred medium as artists and citizens of the Earth, at a time when it is more common to see artists producing exclusively to serve a specific dedicated market. At the heart of its call to universal solidarity, the Earth Charter highlights the unique value of individual thought as a source of shared strength. And here we recognize the two fundamental principles of HEY!: Strengthening diversity by joining together, and resistance through the imagination that is the source of all our actions.” Anne & Julien HEY 4 DEGREES
Hello! Kia Ora! Dia daoibh!
I’m Cathy Fitzgerald, an ecological artist, educator, and founder of Haumea Ecoversity.
Originally from Aotearoa, New Zealand, I’ve lived in rural Ireland, the ancestral home of my family, for over 30 years.
Together with my philosopher colleague Dr Nikos Patedakis (USA), we’ve guided over 400 creative professionals worldwide in transformative ecoliteracy training since 2019.
Haumea Ecoversity Community Membership is a vibrant space for lifelong learning, collective wisdom, and creative transformation for a more beautiful, just, and life-sustaining world.
Dr Cathy Fitzgerald
“In these times of great challenge, I’m passionate about bringing ecoliteracy—including new ecological thinking, values, language, and head-heart-body practices—to creative, sustainability and cultural sectors. These areas have a crucial leadership role: they can inspire communities to embrace new values and actions for living well on Earth, together with all life.”
In 2022, I was honoured to be nominated by Earth Charter International and UNESCO Chair for ESD as Earth Charter Focal Point Communicator for Ireland
About Cathy
- Ecological Artist: Creator of the ongoing Hollywood Forest Story
with new-to-Ireland continuous cover forestry (begun 2008). - Educator & Advisor: Accredited ESD Earth Charter educator,
Creative Drummin Carlow Bog project ecoliteracy advisor. - Researcher & Mentor: Specialist in Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD) at Haumea Ecoversity.com
