Coming Home experience

We are coming to the end of the Coming Home experience here at West Cork Arts Centre, the exhibition closes next week on October 13th. This is an exhibition that has undoubtedly resonated within the community and throughout the country. Even in the exhibition's closing week the anecdotes, awareness and autobiographical revelations continue to emerge. Claire Lambert, practicing artist and Front of House and gallery assistant here at Uillinn, is one of the latest to unearth her own personal connection to the Coming Home exhibition.

Claire is a Front of House and Gallery Assistant here at West Cork Arts Centre

Claire arrived in Ireland from London in 1989 before eventually settling in West Cork to embark on an art career. A graduate of the DIT Visual Art programme in Sherkin Island, Claire has recently joined the team here at West Cork Arts Centre. The arrival of the Coming Home exhibition in June was her first introduction to Irish Famine history. The exhibition approaches the solemnity of An Gorta Mor by discussing the socio, economic and political landscape of Ireland in the nineteenth century. Claire began actively engaging with the historical context of the exhibition  in order to interact with visitors and out of personal interest. This research coincided with the visit of a relative from New Zealand who had an interest in the family tree. Claire had a vague recollection of an Irish ancestor being mentioned somewhere in her family history. Eventually she discovered John Lehane her great-great grandfather was born in Cork in 1842 and her great-great grandmother Jane O' Connor was born in Killarney in 1840.

Coming Home caused Claire to realize that her great-great grandparents were children at the time of the Great Famine. Shocked by this revelation, she delved deeper into her family's past to discover that her family, like so many others, emigrated in the hopes of finding a better life. Their destination was not the much acknowledged Liverpool or Ellis Island, but Argentina. The South American country is today home to the fifth-largest Irish community in the world. Claire's family is among the many that settled and raised a family in these foreign environs, trading the small island nation for the immense plains, deserts, forests and tundra of Argentina . Eventually Claire's  family found themselves further South in the Falkland islands. It was Claire's grandmother who ventured back across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in South Hampton and now, remarkably it is Claire who has set down roots in Cork.
The exhibition's title Coming Home can be understood in a new personal light for Claire as she is the first generation of her family to 'come home' following the cataclysmic event that was the Great Irish Famine.

Claire's story is the story of many. Emigration is one of themes of Coming Home that has become a perspective for understanding events like the Great Irish Famine. Stories like these remind us how small the world can be and how interdependent we are as human beings. Narratives unfold in far flung corners of the world that effect and involve all of us, the world is in a constant flux and those in riches today may be in rags tomorrow. The fragile nature of the status quo has caused many visitors to consider the European emigration crisis today in relation to Ireland's emigration crisis in the nineteenth century. Unfortunately the story of Claire's family is repeating around the world today with people being forced to leave their homes in the face of war, famine or persecution.

It is this ability to address the past and analyse the present that has caused Coming Home to become poignant visitor experience. If you haven't already, experience it for yourself before the exhibition closes this Saturday!    

Representing the Unrepresentable

It is the final week of the Coming Home exhibition in Skibbereen and while everyone here at West Cork Arts Centre will be sad to see this unique experience end, we have, now, the closing event to look forward to. The event, entitled  'Representing the Unrepresentable: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Atrocity' will take place in the Town Hall on October 13th the final date of the exhibition. Peter Murray, former Director of the Crawford Art Gallery will be hosting an informative panel discussion that reviews the exhibition. Guest speakers will include musician, Bob Geldof, art historian Katherine Crouan, artist Dorothy Cross and journalist Mick Foley.

It promises to be an interesting and lively conversation that addresses the complexities and considerations involved in an exhibition of this nature. Having facilitated the public drop-in tours along with private bookings, one thing that really struck me is the desire people have to share their knowledge of the Famine and express individual stories and perspectives of this important cultural tragedy. Coming Home seems to have provided people with a space to communicate these reflections.This event  will be an opportunity to hear the unique responses of our guest speakers, who will share their individual perspectives of the exhibition in the context of their particular profession. Personally, I am looking forward to hearing artist Dorothy Cross speak at the event, her work Basking Shark Currach is a dominant feature of the exhibition. The event will also expand upon the atmosphere of consideration that the exhibition has created by providing a forum for people to discuss Coming Home in an exciting Q&A element of the evening. 

Understandably this, culmination of the significant reaction provoked by Coming Home,  is a sold-out event. Those without tickets needn't miss out, however as the event will be live-streamed via this link so everyone can catch this special event!

Writer-in-Residence

Today, I had the pleasure of chatting with our Artist-in-Residence, writer, Maeve Bancroft. Maeve is currently working on her historical fiction novel, A Gift of Stone. This is Maeve’s first time delving into the world of historical fiction and she is admittedly surprised to find herself working within this genre. While discussing  her new project however, it is clear that this is an undertaking that visibly excites her as a writer.

The Famine-time, novel deals with contemporary issues of displacement and migration, themes that are also raised in the Coming Home exhibition. An interesting and unusual aspect of Maeve’s residency is her workshop engagement with our visitors here at West Cork Arts Centre. As part of the Coming Home programme, visitors are invited to write a response to any of the art works in the collection. The nature of this response is varied and is ultimately decided by the individual visitor themself. A response could be a personal account of a visitors experience of the collection, a fictional narrative that a sculpture may inspire or a piece of prose or poetic phrase roused by a particular painting. Maeve’s studio is a curious place at the moment with wonderful fragmented words and phrases swirling around the studio walls. ‘... and there’s Trevelyan with the golden egg!’ reads one, ‘we were shrunken and starved’ reads another. The prose is a particularly pleasing sight as an array of handwriting styles, long and loopy, small and squashed, printed and proud, bring an interesting character to the fragmented responses.

Maeve’s studio is open to the public on Friday and Saturdays. Visitors are welcome to view the writer’s process as it progresses throughout the residency or to participate in a workshop with Maeve to create a piece of writing and a personal response to Coming Home. Casual visitors are invited to write a response and leave it in a box at the centre’s reception. What these wonderful physical, emotional and intellectual responses to the exhibition will become is still an ongoing feature of Maeve’s residency. The writer has spoken of creating a collaborative poem or a large-scale print or poster as a culmination of this energy of engagement created by her residency. I, for one, am certainly interested  in where this process of collaboration and participation takes us.

For more information about Maeve Bancroft and her residency at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre click here

Invigilators

Art galleries and museums around the country are greatly indebted to the role of the hard-working invigilators. The invigilator's role is to keep an eye on the art-work and to act as a friendly-face for visitors to approach with queries as varied as 'How long is this exhibition on for?', 'What kind of response is the exhibition getting from visitors?' and 'Where is the toilet?' - all equally important questions, that invigilators can answer to help visitors to navigate a gallery comfortably and feel welcome.

We are lucky here at West Cork Arts Centre to welcome two Italian language students, Giannarita and Teresa. As two art-enthusiasts who have an interest in cultural heritage, Gianna and Teresa act as a warm support within the Coming Home exhibition. The students are here for a month and have helped ably with the invigilation of the artwork during their time here.

Giannarita an invigilator for the Coming Home in front of her favourite painting in the exhibition.

Everyone here at Uillinn is delighted to have the help of the girls in facilitating the Coming Home exhibition. The success of the exhibition is assisted by the many helping hands that support the Coming Home programme.

Teresa another invigilator on the Coming Home team

Culture Night

The weather has definitely been signaling to us in the last few weeks that we have finally reached the end of what has undoubtedly been a glorious summer - but don't despair as this is also a sign that the annual, nationwide event, Culture Night, is fast approaching. I would recommend that whatever you do, you do not spend Friday the 21st of September indoors. Get out and enjoy the wonderful programme of events that will be happening around the country and county on this evening of free late night entertainment. Public spaces and venues open their doors for a night of celebration of arts, heritage and culture. The event, now in its thirteenth year, has progressed to become an important event in the arts calendar but is also importantly a chance for the curious to engage with cultural venues in a celebratory and welcoming environment.

Here at Uillinn, we are holding an array of events on the night. Our writer-in-residence, Maeve Bancroft will host an open studio on the night. Maeve is working on her historical fiction, novel-in-progress during her stay in West Cork Arts Centre. Period fiction will collide with fantastic fact with the launch of John Devoy's exciting new travel book Quondam: Travels in a Once World. The book details the exciting true-grit epic of a bike expedition through the heart of Africa. Dervla Murphy, the adventure travel writer will be a special guest on this evening of literary celebration.

Our Learning and Engagement: Artist-In-Residence, Charlotte Donovan will also be holding a visual art workshop on the night. The workshop will form part of her project [un] intentional moments, a series of individual and group engagement, interaction and collaboration with the people of West Cork. These encounters vary from the fortuitous, to the fixed and to the flexible. Charlotte has worked as a socially engaged and collaborative artist in the community and healthcare settings for 25 years. Her workshop on the night promises to be a very special event. The artist is responding to the Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger exhibition by exploring the theme of immigration. Participants will be invited to create and craft boat structures as they consider questions such as ‘If I had a boat where would I go? ... Who would I take with me? What would I pack?’. The workshop will explore issues such as emmigration and migration, life and loss, hope and fear, power and dispossession autonomy and vulnerability.

Uillinn will be a hub of creative activity come Friday the 21st, reflecting the Arts Centre position as an art locus of West Cork. We look forward to welcoming familiar and fresh faces on the night! You can find out more about Culture Night here

Artist-in-Residence Programme

Everyone here at West Cork Arts Centre is really excited by the arrival of our two newest Artists-in-Residence, writer Maeve Bancroft and visual artist, William Bock. The two artists and their very different practices will be engaging with the Coming Home programme in the coming weeks.

 The Artists' Residency Programme is one of the most noteworthy initiatives undertaken at the Uillinn, made possible only, by their move to their new premises, Uillinn in 2015. It provides an exciting opportunity for artists to research and develop their practices within the unique atmosphere of the West Cork Arts Centre. The programme offers three artist's studios, as well as a dance studio and a learning and engagement residency. A distinctive aspect of the programme is the opportunity to engage with artists working on site and the request that the artists have their studios open to the public two days a week.

The artists have the opportunity to participate in the centre's activities and both Maeve and William will be involved with Coming Home's calendar of events. This will be William's third residency at Uillinn and he will be continuing exploring the themes of immigration and migration in West Cork. William's process-led practice often takes the form of photography, performance, object-making, participatory events and site-specific installation. The diverse nature of William's practice is intriguing and I can't help but wonder what kind of medium or outcome will be the result of this particular interaction with West Cork.

Similarly, Maeve's practice also excites my curiosity as she is Uillinn's first writer-in-residence. Maeve is currently undertaking a PhD in Creative Writing in UCC and will be working on her novel-in-progress, A Gift of Stone, a work of historical fiction, during her residency. Unsurprisingly, I am really looking forward to meeting these two artists and discussing their practices with them.  I will be chatting with both artists soon so watch this space as I will be sharing more information about their upcoming work!

Day 3 Leaving Portrait - William Bock

• Maeve will be giving an Illustrated Talk on Saturday the 29th of September at 12 noon where she will discuss her process, her research methods and the challenges involved in writing historical fiction.
• William will be facilitating the photography and collaborative performance Workshop Excess Baggage for artists and individuals who don't identify as coming from one particular place on Saturday the 15th September at 10.30am.
• William will also be giving an Artist Talk Acts of Leaving where he will discuss the three year project he has been working on in October the 11th at 3.30pm
• You can book any of these free events Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre 028 22090 or info@westcorkartscentre.com

To find out more about the special artist-in residence programme here in Uillinn
click here

Emmigration and Coming Home

Two of our visitors today, David Sheehan and his daughter, Judy, travelled to the exhibition from Bandon. The pair have a keen interest in Irish heritage and as West Corkonians An Gorta Mor has always been a particularly emotive history. James Brenan’s painting Finishing Touch particularly affected Judy, she remarked that it is a truly ‘emotional’ scene to witness.

This painting is a moving portrayal of the realities of emmigration. Typically, emmigration scenes are painted in dramatic fashion at the docks of a sea-bound ship. Brenan’s artwork differs from this archetype as it depicts a much more intimate, interior scene. A detailed narrative is constructed through the painting’s composition and as the story unfolds so too does the pathos felt by the Sheehan family. A young girl is preparing herself for her voyage to more prosperous lands and her family struggles to cope with the sense of impending loss. The mother tends to her daughter’s needs knowing that this may be her last time with her child, while the invalid father and grandfather come to terms with the fact that they, unfortunately, do not have this option of travel. A reference to the Madonna and Child hangs over the fireplace, adding a further sense of grief to the scene.

Finishing Touch by James Brenan

The Sheehans were very moved by the uncertainty that surrounded the young girl’s future and the further uncertainty of her reuniting with her family. Judy commented that sadly, emmigration was still a factor of Irish life and while the factors contributing to modern emmigration are not as tragic as this scene’s depiction, the effects of emmigration on family life remain the same. President Higgins outlined the effects emmigration continues to have on the national psyche in his contribution to the exhibition’s catalogue. It is undoubtedly still a very contemporary feature of Irish life and is a theme that reoccurs throughout the Coming Home exhibition, particularly given the exhibition has travelled to Skibbereen from America. The Sheehans left the exhibition with a  strong sense of poignancy and with plans to visit Skibbereen Heritage Centre’s Famine Story.