Has a tree ever inspired, energized, calmed, or protected you? When we stop and reflect, most of us have at least one happy memory associated with trees. These are the stories that artist Pamela Paulsrud (and the late Marilyn Sward) spent the past 17 years collecting, to create the unique installation, Treewhispers. And these are the stories Greenpeace will be sharing at BookExpo — the most important publishing industry gathering of the year — to highlight a serious threat to the ancient trees of the boreal forest.
For years, Greenpeace has been campaigning to protect the Great Northern Forest. One company in Canada, called Resolute Forest Products, has been cutting down ancient parts of the forest — acre by acre. And now the company is suing Greenpeace offices for hundreds of millions of dollars, in an attempt to stop us from speaking out against its destructive practices.
Since most major publishing houses buy paper form Resolute, they’re an important ally in helping to convince the company to source more sustainably. So what better place to have that conversation, than at BookExpo? We’re honored to be bringing the Treewhispers art installation with us, made up of over 6000 personal stories about people’s connection to trees.
Treewhispers has been exhibited in many different places, and each time, communities are invited to create handmade paper rounds and embellish them with their own stories.
Some people do beautiful illustrations, others write poems, song lyrics or prose. Pamela then strings the paper rounds together into large tree assemblages.
Just as trees grow over time, so does Treewhispers — Pamela continues to add people’s stories as she receives them (details here on how you can send her yours).
When artists and activists work together, the results can be powerful — and beautiful!
We’re hoping that everyone who comes to see Greenpeace’s Treewhispers booth at BookExpo will be reminded how important trees are to us all. But you don’t have to be there to make a difference! To stand up for Greenpeace and our right to speak out, you can lend your own voice. Call 213-335-2077 and record yourself saying “our voices are vital.” We’ll use your voice and thousands of others to show Resolute if it wants to silence us, we will only get louder.
