Het Veenmoeras
The Irish Peatlands through the Female Gaze
On Friday 30 January 2026, Noorderlicht opens Het Veenmoeras – The Irish Peatlands through the Female Gaze. Created for the Dutch celebration of St. Brigid’s Day, the exhibition brings together the work of two female photographers, Tina Claffey and Bo Scheeringa, in a shared exploration of Ireland’s peatlands as a living terrain where ecology, culture and technology are inseparably intertwined.
Tina Claffey, Frozen Sphagnum, 2018
Celebrated on 1 February, St. Brigid’s Day traditionally marks the beginning of spring in Ireland and symbolises transformation, care and the transmission of female knowledge. In Groningen, this ancient tradition is reimagined through photography. The exhibition is curated by the Embassy of Ireland in the Netherlands.
Landscape as Technology
Peatlands are not untouched nature, but landscapes that are shaped by human labour, knowledge and timing. Turf cutting is a refined technology in which tools, generations and seasons are carefully aligned with soil and water. The exhibition Het Veenmoeras reveals technology not only as machines or data, but as something embedded in hands, rhythms and living landscapes.
Tina Claffey & Bo Scheeringa
Irish photographer Tina Claffey and Groningen-based photographer Bo Scheeringa approach the Irish peatlands from different angles, yet share a deep attention to how technology mediates our relationship with the land.
Claffey works with macro photography to reveal the fragile, microscopic life of raised bogs. Mosses, lichens and insects appear as interdependent systems, forming a living archive of biodiversity and vulnerability.
Scheeringa works on a human and landscape scale. Her documentary practice follows contemporary turf cutting in northwest Ireland, where centuries-old traditions are increasingly shaped by environmental regulation and climate policy. Her images show peatlands as places of labour, heritage and ecological tension. Together, their work presents peatlands as sites where care, extraction, law and ecology meet.
Opening
The exhibition will be opened by Ann Derwin, Ambassador of Ireland to the Netherlands. During the opening, Matthijs Schouten, ecologist and philosopher (Wageningen University & University College Cork), will speak about the historical role of Dutch ecologists in the conservation of Irish peatlands and reflect on peat as a crossroads of science, culture and ethics.
On view
Bo Scheeringa, Traces of turf cutting, Slievemore, Achill Island 2020
Bo Scheeringa, A family on the bog, harvesting turf, Easkey Bog, 2013
Bo Scheeringa, Machine-cut turf drying in the sun, Ballycroy, 2020
Tina Claffey, Trumpet Cup Lichen, 2021
Tina Claffey, Mating Emperor Moths, 2022
Tina Claffey, Frozen Sphagnum, 2018