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| The Kerala Community St. Patricks Day Residents, Uillinn, 2024 |
Emma Connolly from the Southern Star wrote an article about Uillinn's St. Patrick's Day residents from the
Kerala Community of Skibbereen. The residency ran from 8 January to 18 March 2024, and included an artist studio and a bursary towards creative activities and cultural investigations.
The group created beautiful Pookalam; flower carpets, artworks and models, reflecting their cultural heritage. They also gave children’s Pookalam workshop to create a large flower carpet using the colours connected with St.Patrick’s Day and held open studio events with information on their cultural heritage and traditions.
On Saturday 9th March in Uillinn’s main ground-floor gallery, the community showcased music, dance and rituals integral to their cultural celebrations. SWARA, which roughly translates as ‘Self-shining’.
The programme included Kerala dance forms, children’s dancing, a short 10-minute workshop in teaching Thiruvathira steps to the audience, a Saree draping demonstration, a martial arts performance, and a wonderful fashion show of costumes from the region.
We had approximately 90 people in attendance, including participants and concluded with a studio exhibition, sharing the accumulated work for all to come along and see.
The residency is supported by Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre in partnership with Cork County Council and with support from The Arts Council.
