Dark Forest
Man playing guitar.Trees have always stood in the background of our lives, silent witnesses to our joys and tragedies…
In the mountains we have taken their abundance for granted, but now, there are spaces where their shade once fell. This work gives voice to the trees of Pilot Hill, assigns them stories of their own beyond that of survival.
“Dark Forest is not so much a collaboration, but a collective of authors each contributing their creativity and talent to make the trees speak, and to help the people of this region memorialise and celebrate. They are participating simply because I asked them for help. This in itself is an echo of the generosity we of the Snowy experienced from across Australia and the world during the fires—and so Dark Forest nods to that overwhelming spirit of solidarity in its creation, as much as it commemorates the green giants we lost to the flames, and celebrates what survived.” - Sulari Gentill
Dark Forest was conceived as an experience for participants of the Arbour Festival to connect stories with real trees that exist in the Pilot Hill Arboretum in the Bago state forest NSW. Curated by Batlow-based author Sulari Gentill.
Re-live the experience by visiting Pilot Hill Arboretum and find each tree by downloading this map.
Ulmus
Name: Ulmus Procera (English Elm)
Writer: Robert Gott
Narrated by: Grant Luhrs
Position: 46
Date planted: 1960
Ponderosa Pine
Name: P. Ponderosa (Ponderosa Pine)
Writer: Melinda Smith
Narrator: Moyra Shields
Position: 27
Date planted: 1936
False White Pine
Name: Pinus Pneudo-strobus var. tenuifolia (False White Pine)
Writer: John M. Green
Narrator: Tim Kurylowicz
Position: 39
Date planted: 1960
Eucalyptus Regnans
Name: Alpine Ash (Eucalyptus Regnans)
Writer: Angela Savage
Narrator: Moyra Shields
Date planted: extant
Incense Cedar
Name: Calocedrus Cecurrens (Incense Cedar)
Writer: Sulari Gentill
Narrator: Sulari Gentill
Position: 44
Date planted: 1955
Tree Story
Name: Sequoiauenuren giganteuz (Big Tree)
Writer: Daniel O'Malley
Narrator: Kate Kynaston
Position: 14
Date planted: 1925
The Christmas Tree
Name: Picca rubons (Red Spruce)
Writer: Victoria McGrath
Narrator: Grant Luhrs
Position: 34
Date planted: 1942
The Lonely Pine
Name: Scots Pine
Writer: L.J.M. Owen
Narrator: Sophie Kurylowicz
Position: 7
Date planted: 1924
Blood and Bone
Name: Larix Kaempfori (Japanese Larch)
Writer: Kaaron Warren
Narrator: Robert Beegling
Position: 24
Date planted: 1930
Sitka Spruce
Name: Picea sitchensis (Sitka Spruce)
Writer: Karen Viggers
Narrator: Val Rooney
Position: 19
Date planted: 1931
The Tree
Name: Petula alba (European White Birch)
Writer: Josh Langley
Narrator: Sophie Kurylowicz
Position: 45
Date planted: 1960