Awash with texture and tiny details, ‘Unmasking Nature’ is shaped by sensory cues. You are invited to engage with themes such as biodiversity and more-than-human communication (including with plants, animals and inanimate elements) through an inclusive, neurodivergent lens.

During the event we will celebrate people’s connection to nature through stimming. Stimming, short for ‘self-stimulatory behaviour’, refers to repetitive movements or sounds that people make to help regulate their sensory input, emotions or focus. Our society, which often demands conformity, causes many disabled people to mask their true selves. Being in nature offers radical relief: acceptance without judgment and unconditional belonging. Just as biodiversity flourishes when given space to grow, many neurodivergent people thrive in freedom. ‘Unmasking Nature’ draws parallels between the two, highlighting how patterns in nature reflect neurodivergent ways of moving through the world. 

This event is a permission slip to step away from societal systems that cage us. 

Join us, slow down, and touch grass.

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AlanJames Burns

AlanJame Burns is a neurodivergent, environmental and audiovisual artist, curator and producer. Their artistic practice centres on disability, climate change and the human mind. 

Burns works highly collaboratively with diverse communities, artists and scientists to develop interactive and socially-engaged projects including: ‘Divergently Together,’ 2025-2027, exploring non-linear thinking and climate resilience; ‘Our Place,’ 2023-2026, fostering creativity and digital inclusion for intellectually disabled adults; Disrupt Disability Arts Festival, an annual Disability Festival by and for the disability community, held at Project Arts Centre, Dublin. They have been funded by Arts Council, Creative Ireland, ADI, Arts Council England and Cavan Arts. 

www.alanjamesburns.com