DEEP FUTURES: FANTASTICAL BORDERLANDS OF IRELAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND, 2200

Abstract

The long-term effects of climate change will supersede the implications of political demarcations and divisions. Within this context, “Fantastical Borderlands” proposes a rewilded territory, a landscape of slowness, for the Irish Northwest that encapsulates the northern borderlands between Ireland and Northern Ireland. This landscape emerges as a result of the significant reduction of grazing and the anticipated flooding of low-lying lands between Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly. The narrative process considers how flood risk might be managed in conjunction with the initiation of an ambitious rewilding scheme, while remaining sensitive to landscapes of deep cultural connection. By the “reverse time capsule” with performance and exhibition, “Fantastical Borderlands” is narrated from 2200 via a series of vignettes that reflect actions taken during the two centuries prior; the years surrounding Brexit serve as a catalyst for landscape change for the border landscape. The project is liberated from its constraints to near-term planning propositions, instead enabling a focus on landscape impacts that are revealed only at extended timeframes. Ultimately, the project asks: What is the role of storytelling and mythmaking in illuminating current realities and distant futures?