Category Archives: Memory Palace of Trees

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第三周 国王长着驴耳朵

Week 3 Willow –Xiaojie qiao , 120 x 100cm Niamh Cunningham 倪芙瑞莲2012

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有一天，国王的使者来到一个寡妇家。

告诉她，“国王给你儿子安排了一份特别的工作，他必须明天去见国王。”

这个女人很担心。一年一次，国王会叫一个理发师给他理发。可是还没有人能在理发之后回来。她的儿子正是一个理发师。

没有人知道国王有一个可怕的秘密。他的耳朵长得非常奇怪，看起来就像驴的耳朵。他需要剪个特别的发型把它们藏起来。每个理发师在给国王理发之后都立刻被处死，这样一来，他就永远不会泄露这个可怕的秘密。

女人向国王请求：“在这个世界上，儿子是我唯一的亲人，请不要杀他。”国王有些于心不忍，说：“如果他能保证永远不把在城堡里看见的事告诉任何一个活着的人，我可以饶了他的性命。”第二天，理发师去给国王理发。他很清楚只有保守秘密才能活着，所以什么都没说。

但是男孩儿吃不下也睡不着，他的妈妈很担心。她向当地的德鲁伊寻求帮助。“他保证不向任何活着的人透露秘密，但他只有讲出来才能好起来。到河边去找到那棵高大的柳树。他可以把秘密悄悄讲给叶子听，这样就没有打破承诺，因为他没有告诉任何活着的人。”

男孩儿照做了，他把秘密讲给大树听，重担立刻从他的肩上卸了下来。

过了一个星期，国王的竖琴师去砍树做一把新琴。几天以后，在国王和其他首领们的宴会上竖琴奏出了奇特的音乐。“国王啊国王，长着驴耳朵，长着驴耳朵”，竖琴唱到。

秘密泄露了。国王惊恐地环顾四周，但是发现没人害怕他，也没人嘲笑他，他知道再也不用把那对驴耳朵藏起来了。

讲述者，来自布里斯班的“开水壶”Boiler。据他说，这个故事起源于我的家乡——爱尔兰卡洛。


photo courtesy of Wan Liu Property Showrooms and Peking Art Associates

“树之记忆宫殿”是一个关注生态环境的艺术实践，这个项目邀请大家通过讲述一个关于树的故事（或者提供与树有关的信息）参与其中。这也是一个有关如何与植物、与人更和谐相处的社会调查。我诚挚地邀请您，请把您的关于树木的故事讲给我听。(email : niamh@niamhcunningham.com) 期待您的来信。

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Week 3 ‘The king has donkeys ears’ sang the willow tree – an Irish Story

week 3 Willows on Xiaojie qiao , oil on canvas 120 x 100cm 倪芙瑞莲Niamh Cunningham 2012

简体中文

Week 3 – The king has donkey’s ears

One day , the kings messenger called at the home of a widow.

“ The King has a special job for your son ,  he must come to see the king tomorrow” she was told.

The woman was very worried. Once a year the king summoned a
barber to cut his hair. But no barber ever returned after his visit to the king.
The widow’s son was a barber.

No one knew that the king had a terrible secret. He had very strange ears which actually  looked like ears of a donkey.  To hide them he needed to have a special haircut . Every barber who cut the king’s hair had been put to death immediately so that he could never reveal the kings terrible secret.


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Week 2 Why Trees Whisper – a children’s story

简体中文

Memory Palace of Trees is an ecological art practice which invites your participating to tell a story (or give some kind of information) about Trees. It is a social enquiry of how to live better with the planet and with people. You are cordially invited to tell me your story of a tree or trees. (email : niamh@niamhcunningham.com) I would love to hear from you .

Week 2 -They will not hush “它们不肯安静，叶子在我身边飞舞” 160x 110 cm
Niamh Cunningham 倪芙瑞莲 2015

Why Trees Whisper – An Estonian Legend
Retold by Anne Pellowski

Why Trees Whisper

Estonian Legend
Retold by Anne Pellowski

In the early days of earth, not long after the trees were created and humans were forced to leave Paradise to work, a man went out to the forest to cut wood. The first tree he came to was a pine tree. But as soon as the man lifted the axe he heard a voice cry out.

“Don’t strike me. Can’t you see the sticky tears that are already coming out of my body? If you hit me it will bring you bad luck.”

The man did not indeed see the sticky sap coming from the several cuts in the tree trunk, so he moved on farther into the forest. He came to a spruce tree and again raised his axe. But the spruce tree protested.

“Don’t cut me down. You will find me of little use for my wood is twisted and knotty.”

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树之记忆宫殿……一个关于树的故事集——第一周 “延伸

Extend Ginkgo Memory Palace of Trees


第一周  “延伸”，（银杏系列）  布上油画 50 x150 cm  Niamh Cunningham 倪芙瑞莲 2016

新年好，欢迎来到2020“树之记忆宫殿”项目。这是一个关于树的故事集。我希望在中国，也在世界各地搜集关于树的故事。故事只要与树有关就可以，也许你是一个木工手艺人、学者、刚刚种下一棵树的学生，或者仅仅非常喜欢树。也许你想讲述的故事来自多年前的记忆。我在这里倾听。可以很简短，比如“我爱栗子树”，也可以更长，不过请尽量少于200字。或许你的故事会被选中成为每周一篇之一（一年52篇）！

handful of ginkgo leaves

请把要讲述的树的故事发给我（请告诉我您愿意用本名、姓名字母缩写、笔名，还是匿名）。2020年每个星期都会有一个有关树的故事或信息与一件艺术作品一同发布，一件之前的作品，或者一件新作品——也许你的故事将成为我创作的灵感来源！

2020年我将与更多不同背景人士交流并向他们学习，比如护林员、自然电影导演、摄影师、木工手艺人、少数民族等等，并将联络多个社团组织，比如自然之友、我的徒步伙伴们。

cleaning Ginkgo leaves
Ginkgo Series preps

第一个星期，我的作品叫做“延伸”，因为“树之记忆宫殿”项目开始伸展。

“树之记忆宫殿”是一个面向公众的邀请，请每个人讲述他们关于树的故事。在记忆宫殿里，旅行、图景与信息相交织，帮我们记住那些想要长久留在脑海中的事情。