Talking Trees/树说/述说
Academic Leads: Dr Lan Guo (UNUK) and Dr Michael Pinchbeck (Manchester Metropolitan University); local lead Professor Derek Irwin (UNNC)
What does home mean to you?
What does arriving mean to you?
What does leaving mean to you?
Talking Trees/树说/述说 involves a living archive of stories to be listened to at trees by downloading tracks via the QR codes. The stories explore the notion of home, roots/routes and how trees have grown over time as a metaphor for migration and belonging. One tree represents the idea of ‘leaving home’ while the other tree represents the idea of ‘arriving home’. At each of these two trees you are invited to listen to verbatim interviews with Chinese speakers on a range of relevant themes. The voices were provided by students and staff from a range of backgrounds. A fictional narrative drawn from archival research and images imagines the journey the trees might have taken into and from China, how they might be talking to each other and what they might say. This fictional narrative frames the interviews and forms an audio walk between the trees for visitors to follow. This immersive audio experience has been designed with Leicester-based sound artist, Chris Cousin, and adapted to the local context by Dr Lan Guo.
Talking Trees/树说/述说 is a collaborative research project that provides students from the University of Nottingham with the opportunity to think about our campuses here and in the UK without physically travelling. It was devised in collaboration between Dr Lan Guo, Associate Professor in Chinese Language and Society from the UoN and Dr Michael Pinchbeck, Reader in Theatre (MMU) during the Covid-19 pandemic as an alternative to study placement for students taking Chinese on university degree programmes in the UK, and was expanded to the UNNC campus once travel had resumed. It is located within research on student migration and chimes with previous projects delivered either separately or in partnership by Lan Guo and Michael Pinchbeck around notions of home, migration and belonging. Please note the piece is in English and Mandarin / Cantonese. A written transcript is available on request.
Take an audio walk with us following the Talking Tree Map below:
Point 1: Leaving Tree
Listen to the audio track for Leaving Tree (Camphor Tree)
This track reflects on the age of the tree, its history and heritage, and how we might connect to it. It asks you to look up and listen. It asks where our speakers are from, what they might consider home and how it felt to leave that place and where they were going – many of whom ended up on our UK campus. You are then asked to take a journey to the second tree at the riverside and consider what these trees might have experienced since they were planted. You are invited to explore the campus as you journey to the second tree and listen to our speakers talk about their journeys to and from the places they consider home.
Point 2: Arriving Tree
Listen to the audio track for Arriving Tree (Chinese Elm)
This track starts with the Arriving Tree, and what this might mean: the track considers what the trees have witnessed over time and how the landscape might have changed. It asks our speakers how it felt to arrive in a new home and how they have adapted to this new landscape, like the trees. You are left with a moment of reflection and contemplation in this space - an opportunity to see leaving and arriving home through the stories of our speakers who come from all around China and the world.
Point 3: Future Tree
Listen to the audio track for the Future Tree (Camphor Tree)
This track reflects on the Tree in front of you, and the world they could continue to grow into. You are invited to look over the lake in front of you, welcoming you to UNNC, and think about what the future holds. The track considers what our trees will witness over time and how the landscape might change. It asks our speakers, four young people, how it will feel to grow older and how they will adapt to this new landscape, like the trees. You are left with a moment of reflection and contemplation in this space - an opportunity to see the future through the stories of our speakers.
Credits: We would like to thank the project funder (Nottingham Confucius Institute), interviewees and participants at the preview event at UoN Diversity Festival for their feedback. We would particularly like to thank Hua Geddes (NCI), Fangfang Xie (NCI), Prof. Neil Hughes (CLAS), Prof. Nicola McLelland (CLAS), Dr Tara Webster-Deakin (CLAS), Sam Robinson (CLAS), Ian Leroux (CLAS), Victoria Waring (HR) and Julie Thomas (HR), Dale Coates (Estates office) for their support of Talking Trees/树说/述说. Thanks to Manchester School of Art Research Centre.
Video / Photographs: Ai Narapol / Yellow Pocket Studios
Sound: Chris Cousin
Text: Dr Lan Guo / Dr Michael Pinchbeck
Voices: Lan Guo, Songbo, Zhuo Earl, Qing Shan, Howard Wat, Hwee Er Teo.
Project Leads: Dr Lan Guo / Dr Michael Pinchbeck