If you’re thinking the worlds of art and agriculture couldn’t be further apart, think again. On 31 August and 1 September, the creative farming community gathered at Ailbhe Gerrard’s Brookfield Farm (brookfield.farm), which is located near Coolbawn, Co Tipperary, on the shores of Lough Derg.
If you’re thinking the worlds of art and agriculture couldn’t be further apart, think again.
On 31 August and 1 September, the creative farming community gathered at Ailbhe Gerrard’s Brookfield Farm (brookfield.farm), which is located near Coolbawn, Co Tipperary, on the shores of Lough Derg.
They gathered to celebrate a sustainable future of food and agriculture in what is now an annual event: the Field Exchange Festival.
This festival is a coming together of minds to re-imagine what the future of Irish farming could be. When you really think about it, creativity is at the core of every family farm in Ireland.
Farmers are quick thinking, highly adaptable and are adept at finding creative solutions to every-day problems, so why not also tackle some of the larger ones we face?
Ailbhe tells Irish Country Living that this festival illustrates how these spheres can come together to address the current pressing issues facing farmers and wider society.
Field Exchange founder Ailbhe Gerrard welcomes attendees to the long table dinner at Brookfield Farm. / Dan Harvey
“At the heart of Field Exchange is the belief that creativity is not exclusive to artists – it’s a quality inherent in everyone, including farmers,” she says.
“Traditionally, farming is seen through a lens of productivity and high inputs; a path that has led to significant environmental and social challenges.
"The festival seeks to redirect this focus towards the creative possibilities with land and food production, encouraging farmers to use this creativity to envision and implement changes to improve wellbeing on-farm and off.”
The 2024 Field Exchange Festival featured panel discussions, presentations, performances and installations with farmers, foresters, artists, food producers, and locals all taking part.
Contributors from within the spaces of sustainable agriculture and the arts included Tania Banotti (director of Creative Ireland), Sadhbh O’Neill (senior climate advisor for Friends of the Earth), Ella McSweeney (agricultural journalist) and art groups including the Company of Trees and Ackroyd & Harvey.
“By linking practical knowledge of regenerative practices with artistic endeavours, the festival fosters a collaborative environment where new ideas can flourish,” Ailbhe says.
Alongside interactive talks with artists and designers, the Field Exchange Festival featured a mixed-discipline performance from the Company of Trees.
This was a musical and spoken word production exploring the impact of trees on our daily lives, written by Michael James Ford and Philip Dodd.
The piece was performed by Susannah De Wrixon, Michael James Ford, Kyle Hixon and the Delmaine String Quartet and featured photographic and visual images by Brendan Keogh.
Susannah De Wrixon, Michael James Ford and Kyle Hixon comprise the group The Company of Trees. They performed a musical and spoken word piece exploring the impact of trees on our daily lives. / Brendan Keogh
The two farmers - Margaret Edgill and Sean Fletcher - featured in the Ackroyd & Harvey exhibition.
“The festival is rich with stories of how art and creativity bring people together in meaningful ways,” Ailbhe says. “One poignant moment was the unveiling of large portraits of local farmers and a tree created on grass canvas by renowned international artists Ackroyd & Harvey.
Sean Fletcher, one local farmer, was portrayed [in the exhibition] and the impact on Sean’s children – who saw their father celebrated in this heroic, artistic way – was profound and moving.
“Field Exchange serves as a vibrant educational platform, offering lessons that extend beyond farming,” she adds. “It’s about nurturing a community that values sustainability, creativity, and shared learning.”
The festival also featured workshops in woodturning, leather tanning and sugan chair-making. Event partners – the Irish Agroforestry Ireland Forum (IAF) and the Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland (DSWAI) – hosted demonstrations in agroforestry and the construction of dry stone walls.
“The Field Exchange Festival is more than just a yearly event; it’s a catalyst for ongoing change,” Ailbhe says.
“It challenges participants and spectators alike to think differently about agriculture and food systems, posing the question: if we approach these sectors with more creativity, might we be better equipped to tackle the challenges we face?”
In addition to the annual Field Exchange Festival, which originally ran as a pilot in 2022, Ailbhe also runs the Field Exchange project.
This is a funded two-year comprehensive programme which includes a series of workshops, discussions, and hands-on activities which builds a close community of farmers. It aims to integrate the vision and creativity of artists into sustainable farming practices and habitat enhancement.
Field Exchange is one of 43 Creative Climate Action Fund projects taking place across the country. The projects work with communities using creativity to envision a better future and empower people to make real changes in how they interact with the environment.
Field Exchange is a recipient of the Creative Climate Action fund, an initiative from the Creative Ireland Programme.
Ruth Hegarty and Ella McSweeney interview some of the Field Exchange creative farming ambassadors about their experience in the comprehensive programme. / Elish Bulgodley
It is funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in collaboration with the Department of the Taoiseach.
The fund supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empower citizens to make meaningful behavioural transformations.
Ailbhe Gerrard is the farmer and beekeeper behind Brookfield Farm. With a successful career in project management for construction, she returned to Brookfield Farm, beside her family home.
Ailbhe received an MSc in sustainable development from University College London and an MSc in organic farming for three years at Scottish Agricultural College (SRUC). Research on farms reaching people directly was funded by a Nuffield Agricultural Scholarship, and she regularly lectures in agriculture at third level.
Both a Climate Ambassador and a Farming for Nature Ambassador, Ailbhe has farmed at Brookfield for over 13 years, converting the farm to organic, developing new ideas and making collaborations with farmers, artists, and agricultural experts.
Ailbhe’s commitment to sustainability, education and creative agriculture has led to recent awards, including the RDS Sustainable Farming Award and the RDS Social Impact Award, to name but a few.
The Creative Ireland Programme is a five-year programme that connects people, creativity, and well-being. It is an all-government culture and well-being programme that inspires and transforms people, places, and communities through creativity.
The programme is committed to the vision that every person in Ireland should have the opportunity to realise their full creative potential.
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