Burn before reading, 2025, installation view, pages of Aboriginal Words and Place Names, calligraphy ink, florist wire, glue, Burn Before Reading, Gertrude Glasshouse, Naarm Melbourne, 2025, image courtesy of the artist and MARS Gallery, Naarm Melbourne © the artist, photograph: Christian Capurro
Burn Before Reading draws upon the ecological phenomenon of epicormic growth, where new shoots emerge from beneath the bark of trees following fire trauma, allowing them to regenerate. Eucalypts, known for their resilience to extreme environments, sprout vibrant neon green growth against their blackened trunks after bushfire.
In Jenna Lee’s new installation, language is treated as an ecosystem. Just as landscapes can recover after devastation, so too can languages endure and flourish. Burn Before Reading honours the lasting presence of language in Country, and the ways it carries knowledge and vocabulary essential to understanding and caring for the environment.
One at a time, words, like leaves, return.
Burn Before Reading draws upon the ecological phenomenon of epicormic growth, where new shoots emerge from beneath the bark of trees following fire trauma, allowing them to regenerate. Eucalypts, known for their resilience to extreme environments, sprout vibrant neon green growth against their blackened trunks after bushfire.
In Jenna Lee’s new installation, language is treated as an ecosystem. Just as landscapes can recover after devastation, so too can languages endure and flourish. Burn Before Reading honours the lasting presence of language in Country, and the ways it carries knowledge and vocabulary essential to understanding and caring for the environment.
One at a time, words, like leaves, return.
