diff --git a/src/Arrow.jl b/src/Arrow.jl
index 323a3b8e..4eac1762 100644
--- a/src/Arrow.jl
+++ b/src/Arrow.jl
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ include("arraytypes/arraytypes.jl")
 include("eltypes.jl")
 include("table.jl")
 include("write.jl")
+include("cinterface.jl")
 
 const LZ4_FRAME_COMPRESSOR = LZ4FrameCompressor[]
 const ZSTD_COMPRESSOR = ZstdCompressor[]
diff --git a/src/cinterface.jl b/src/cinterface.jl
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a665e7aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/cinterface.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+module CData
+
+export ArrowSchema, ArrowArray, getschema, getarray
+
+const ARROW_FLAG_DICTIONARY_ORDERED = 1
+const ARROW_FLAG_NULLABLE = 2
+const ARROW_FLAG_MAP_KEYS_SORTED = 4
+
+struct CArrowSchema
+    format::Ptr{UInt8}
+    name::Ptr{UInt8}
+    metadata::Ptr{UInt8}
+    flags::Int64
+    n_children::Int64
+    children::Ptr{Ptr{CArrowSchema}}
+    dictionary::Ptr{CArrowSchema}
+    release::Ptr{Cvoid}
+    private_data::Ptr{Cvoid}
+end
+
+CArrowSchema() = CArrowSchema(C_NULL, C_NULL, C_NULL, 0, 0, C_NULL, C_NULL, _CNULL, C_NULL)
+
+Base.propertynames(::CArrowSchema) = (:format, :name, :metadata, :flags, :n_children, :children, :dictionary)
+
+function readmetadata(ptr::Ptr{UInt8})
+    pos = 1
+    meta = Dict{String, String}()
+    if ptr != C_NULL
+        n_entries = unsafe_load(convert(Ptr{Int32}, ptr))
+        ptr += 4
+        for _ = 1:n_entries
+            keylen = unsafe_load(convert(Ptr{Int32}, ptr))
+            ptr += 4
+            key = unsafe_string(ptr, keylen)
+            ptr += keylen
+            vallen = unsafe_load(convert(Ptr{Int32}, ptr))
+            ptr += 4
+            val = unsafe_string(ptr, vallen)
+            ptr += vallen
+            meta[key] = val
+        end
+    end
+    return meta
+end
+
+function Base.getproperty(x::CArrowSchema, nm::Symbol)
+    if nm === :format
+        return unsafe_string(getfield(x, :format))
+    elseif nm === :name
+        return unsafe_string(getfield(x, :name))
+    elseif nm === :metadata
+        return readmetadata(getfield(x, :metadata))
+    elseif nm === :flags
+        return getfield(x, :flags)
+    elseif nm === :n_children
+        return getfield(x, :n_children)
+    elseif nm === :children
+        c = getfield(x, :children)
+        return c == C_NULL ? CArrowSchema[] : unsafe_wrap(Array, unsafe_load(c), getfield(x, :n_children))
+    elseif nm === :dictionary
+        d = getfield(x, :dictionary)
+        return d == C_NULL ? nothing : unsafe_load(d)
+    end
+    error("unknown property requested: $nm")
+end
+
+mutable struct ArrowSchema
+    format::String
+    name::String
+    metadata::Dict{String, String}
+    flags::Int64
+    n_children::Int64
+    children::Vector{ArrowSchema}
+    dictionary::Union{Nothing, ArrowSchema}
+    carrowschema::Ref{CArrowSchema}
+end
+
+ArrowSchema(s::Ref{CArrowSchema}) = ArrowSchema(s[].format, s[].name, s[].metadata, s[].flags, s[].n_children, map(ArrowSchema, s[].children), s[].dictionary === nothing ? nothing : ArrowSchema(s[].dictionary), s)
+ArrowSchema(s::CArrowSchema) = ArrowSchema(s.format, s.name, s.metadata, s.flags, s.n_children, map(ArrowSchema, s.children), s.dictionary === nothing ? nothing : ArrowSchema(s.dictionary), Ref{CArrowSchema}())
+
+function getschema(f)
+    schref = Ref{CArrowSchema}()
+    ptr = Base.unsafe_convert(Ptr{CArrowSchema}, schref)
+    f(ptr)
+    sch = ArrowSchema(schref)
+    finalizer(sch) do x
+        r = getfield(x.carrowschema[], :release)
+        if r != C_NULL
+            ccall(r, Cvoid, (Ptr{CArrowSchema},), x.carrowschema)
+        end
+    end
+    return sch
+end
+
+struct CArrowArray
+    length::Int64
+    null_count::Int64
+    offset::Int64
+    n_buffers::Int64
+    n_children::Int64
+    buffers::Ptr{Ptr{UInt8}}
+    children::Ptr{Ptr{CArrowArray}}
+    dictionary::Ptr{CArrowArray}
+    release::Ptr{Cvoid}
+    private_data::Ptr{Cvoid}
+end
+
+CArrowArray() = CArrowArray(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, C_NULL, C_NULL, C_NULL, C_NULL, C_NULL)
+
+Base.propertynames(::CArrowArray) = (:length, :null_count, :offset, :n_buffers, :n_children, :buffers, :children, :dictionary)
+
+function Base.getproperty(x::CArrowArray, nm::Symbol)
+    if nm === :length
+        return getfield(x, :length)
+    elseif nm === :null_count
+        return getfield(x, :null_count)
+    elseif nm === :offset
+        return getfield(x, :offset)
+    elseif nm === :n_buffers
+        return getfield(x, :n_buffers)
+    elseif nm === :n_children
+        return getfield(x, :n_children)
+    elseif nm === :buffers
+        b = getfield(x, :buffers)
+        return b == C_NULL ? Ptr{UInt8}[] : unsafe_wrap(Array, b, getfield(x, :n_buffers))
+    elseif nm === :children
+        c = getfield(x, :children)
+        return c == C_NULL ? CArrowArray[] : unsafe_wrap(Array, unsafe_load(c), getfield(x, :n_children))
+    elseif nm === :dictionary
+        d = getfield(x, :dictionary)
+        return d == C_NULL ? nothing : unsafe_load(d)
+    end
+    error("unknown property requested: $nm")
+end
+
+mutable struct ArrowArray
+    length::Int64
+    null_count::Int64
+    offset::Int64
+    n_buffers::Int64
+    n_children::Int64
+    buffers::Vector{Ptr{UInt8}}
+    children::Vector{ArrowArray}
+    dictionary::Union{Nothing, ArrowArray}
+    carrowarray::Ref{CArrowArray}
+end
+
+ArrowArray(a::Ref{CArrowArray}) = ArrowArray(a[].length, a[].null_count, a[].offset, a[].n_buffers, a[].n_children, a[].buffers, map(ArrowArray, a[].children), a[].dictionary === nothing ? nothing : ArrowArray(a[].dictionary), a)
+ArrowArray(a::CArrowArray) = ArrowArray(a.length, a.null_count, a.offset, a.n_buffers, a.n_children, a.buffers, map(ArrowArray, a.children), a.dictionary === nothing ? nothing : ArrowArray(a.dictionary), Ref{CArrowArray}())
+
+function getarray(f)
+    arrref = Ref{CArrowArray}()
+    ptr = Base.unsafe_convert(Ptr{CArrowArray}, arrref)
+    f(ptr)
+    arr = ArrowArray(arrref)
+    finalizer(arr) do x
+        r = getfield(x.carrowarray[], :release)
+        if r != C_NULL
+            ccall(r, Cvoid, (Ptr{CArrowArray},), x.carrowarray)
+        end
+    end
+    return arr
+end
+
+end # module