Visit our newest pop-up art installation

From 18th June to 9th July

Experience Invaders at Gate Street

Visit Gate Street and experience our newest pop-up art installation Invaders by Eilidh.Space on Greensand Way. Parking and accommodation available at Gate Street.

Artist Statement:

Invaders

The Sacred Church Forests of Ethiopia are being Invaded and destroyed

In Ethiopia 95% of its forests have been lost to human activity. Now just a few

remnants of primal forest can be found. Termed “Church forests” from the air they

appear like green drops of rain in an otherwise scorched and mainly barren

Landscape. common trees of the forests are African Juniper and cherry, wild olive,

yellow wood, Hagenia, Acacias and wild date palms.

The forests are protected by Orthodox monasteries found within them. These

ancient forests serve as literal and spiritual sanctuaries for hermits, (known as

bahitawis) holy men seen as spiritual guardians of the forests. Avoiding human

contact their diet consists of leaves, roots and berries. “Having a bahitawi praying

in a church forest is considered a major blessing by the local faithful, who

sometimes leave small offerings of food like roasted barley for them at designated

spots”. Emergence Magazine.

The environmental value of these forests is huge as they raise water tables which

attract pollinating insects vital for the surrounding agriculture. They also block

destructive winds, conserve soil and store carbon. But the forests are now being

invaded ** ** and destroyed by Lepisiota Canescens, Ants who are demonstrating the

behaviour needed for super-colony formation and for global invasion.

Similarities between species are well documented. Those between Ants and

Humans are remarkable. Organising themselves in a tiered society of workers,

soldiers and leaders, their ethos of invading land, colonising and destroying

habitats of other spices are being mirrored around the world by humans.

I believe in and practice circularity: This installation, like most of my work, has

been constructed from plywood from sustainable forests. Some of the parts have

been reused from previous installations and this installation in-turn will be broken

up and reused.

Artist’s website: www.Eilidh.Space.com

Artist’s Instagram: @Eilidh.Space

Visit Invaders, our newest pop-up art installation at Gate Street from 18th June to 9th July.