Culture is a Human Right!

The Arts for Health Partnership Programme, West Cork was first initiated in 2002 by Justine Foster, Programme Manager at West Cork Arts Centre, together with Pat O’Mahony and Shirley O’Shea from the Southern Health Board (HSE) as a pilot project to improve the quality of people's lives in community hospitals. Due to its huge success, it is now operating in eleven healthcare settings all over West Cork in rural Ireland and is also supported by Cork Education and Training Board and Cork County Council. The programme is offered to over 700 older people who reside in community hospitals or attend one of the day care facilities in the area. The main idea, bringing arts and culture to those who are usually deprived of it, is at the heart of the programme. After all, “arts and culture are a human right” says Justine Foster “as everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts” referring to Article 27 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights . A team of professional artists, including visual artists, musicians, poets, deliver the programme, collaborating closely with the healthcare professionals who work in the hospitals and day care centers. Together they are successfully facing the challenge of finding a balance between hospital regulations and creativity. 

In a weekly Podcast, presenter Liz Clark, a musician on the Programme, talks about her role in the programme, the challenges the artists, partners and staff face in delivering the programme, and the benefits and outcomes of the programme for the people who participate. One issue that becomes apparent in the conversations, is the importance of social contact and the time needed to build relationships with the people taking part. Every participant has a unique history and different personal challenges to face. Working together therefore needs trust and reciprocal respect. Only then is the goal of meaningful creative engagement and the opportunity to access lifelong learning achievable. 

But what happens if social contact is not possible any longer? Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, hospitals are closed to all but essential staff. The daycare centres cannot open at all. Not many of us can imagine what this must mean to older people dependent on the healthcare settings. While most people today have access to the internet, can use video calls to talk to family members or stay in contact via social media, some older people do not have these options and are now facing a time of isolation and loneliness, particularly with poor and unreliable  broadband infrastructure in some parts of rural West Cork. 

The current situation requires a lot of creativity and rethinking by the artists to keep the programme going - and how important that is need hardly be said. Of the first streamed session in Schull Community Hospital Roisin Walsh, Clinical Nurse Manager said, “It was fantastic, enjoyed by one and all including myself. Very hard but you (Liz) make it look easy.” While Liz Clark is able to live stream her music sessions to a small group of residents on a large drop down screen, with residents watching meters apart, creating this much needed celebratory occasion is not always possible. Visual artist Sarah Ruttle describes her approach in facing this challenge, “Similar to the long-distance relationships and communication shared between families who have been separated by long distance of land or sea, the creative exchange, relationship and conversation built through the Arts for Health programme can continue, although in a different way. The significant challenge our healthcare staff and older people are facing at this moment are beyond our understanding. If our work of creative engagement can bring a glimpse of light to those we normally work with in our Community Hospital then it is incredibly important to me to do what I can.”

The artists too are mindful of not bringing an extra workload to the hospital staff and management are taking an extremely well planned approach to the new level of infection control measures put in place. Sarah Ruttle is currently developing a new five week project to connect with the participants of the programme, without being there in person. Along with a series of pre recorded conversational workshops, Sarah is preparing packages for posting to be shared with residents isolating in their rooms, who know Sarah and are missing the sessions. “I count it a privilege to continue to share in a conversation with these participants and committed healthcare staff, for now, at our social distance”, Sarah tells me.  

Like Sarah, the other artists of the Arts for Health programme are developing their own creative solutions to overcome spatial and social distance. One big project that has been rethought in order to enable its delivery despite the COVID-19 regulations was initiated by Tess Leak and Sharon Wooley. They created a postal project called Museum of Song. What was originally planned as an on-site project, inspired by Drimoleague Singing Festival, is now taking place via social media and traditional mail. Sharon and Tess are now sending packages filled with poetry and songs to participants at St. Joseph’s Unit, Bantry General Hospital and Dunmanway, Schull and Skibbereen Community Hospitals and with villagers from Drimoleague.

The participants are encouraged to respond to themes offered by the artists in their parcel. The first theme was ‘The Songs of Our Mothers and Fathers’. Tess and Sharon are eagerly awaiting creative feedback from the participants, which will then be presented on the Arts for Health website. “this project is working out really well, it seems to move to fit each person's ability, a particular skill of Tess...Beauty and culture and connection awaits inside with poems, songs, pictures, beautifully presented with things to open admire and read…. This has created many hours of pondering and discussion in St.Josephs.” describes Sarah Cairns, Activity Director, St. Joseph’s Care of the Elderly Unit, Bantry General Hospital. Awaiting a lift in restrictions is a live outdoor singing performance by Camilla Greshiel hoped to take place in week five of the project, inspired by the singers on the balcony in Italy.

These projects are only a small sample of how creative work is still taking place in healthcare settings despite the restrictions caused by the global pandemic. All these creative solutions to our current situation, that we may well encounter again, gives us hope of overcoming it and emerging stronger from the crisis. To me, it is a comforting thought, that there are people like the artists from the Arts for Health programme, who do everything possible to ensure that older people are not forgotten or deprived of their human right of culture. After all, I hope to be old one day, too. Images taken from the Arts for Health Website

Looking through the Eyes of a Child

A child sees and experiences the world from a different perspective. Although this idea is not new to us, comprehending it remains a challenge - and also an opportunity - in the world of art. Beginning with an exhibition by Graham Crowley in 2008, West Cork Art Centre have produced many- what they have titled as - Discovery Boxes created to accompany various exhibitions, offering children and their adult carers a playful approach to the presented artwork. (for more background information on Discovery Box, visit our website) 

One creator of several Discovery Boxes since the very beginning of the programme, is artist Sarah Ruttle, who has also been commissioned to create the latest box to go with Gabhann Dunne’s exhibition Committed to Falling. Over the years, Sarah has gained a lot of experience on what a child requires in order to engage with art. During the development of the concept of Discovery Box, a child psychologist was consulted in order to learn more about how young children aged between 18 months and 3 years engage in meaningful experiences. With this background knowledge, there’s still the challenge of every exhibition being completely different. Sarah Ruttle’s approach in creating the Discovery Box is to first of all get an impression on where the exhibiting artist is coming from. What are their ideas? What is their message? and how are they conveying this? 

Gabhann Dunne’s latest exhibition at West Cork Arts Centre dealt with extinct plants and birds or those which are non-native and yet naturalised here in West Cork. The paintings raise questions about how nature and all its inhabitants, humans included, face difficult times like the current climate crisis. This beautiful and complex narrative about nature and identity might be challenging for an adult to grasp on first viewing, “but how does this look through the eyes of a child?” is the question Sarah asks herself when creating the Discovery Box. Very young children do not yet comprehend the concept of identity and link it to the presented artwork, rather “they will see the colour, this impressive blue which is so striking within the exhibition. They will see all the different plants and birds in all their shapes, texture and scale,” she says. Working through these aspects of the artist's work, Sarah created a series of tactile and explorative tools for smaller children to engage with this powerful exhibition. Especially for younger children, a sensory experience is of the essence. And we all know the feeling of being in an exhibition, desperately wanting to touch the work presented. Here, Sarah came up with the idea of providing small pieces of oil painted cardboard, for all of Gabhann’s works are painted in oil. Children and their families now have the chance to literally get in touch with the medium and playfully arrange the colourful cardboard pieces, emulating or re-inventing the placement of the artwork, another key feature of this exhibition. 

Small sound boxes with pre-recorded bird songs stimulate the sense of hearing and bring wildlife into the gallery space. Bird’s masks and feathered wings encourage children to become migratory birds themselves. The wings in the box bring the artwork off the static walls, igniting the imagination and enabling children to fly around the exhibition with them, just like the bird on its own journey. 

The colour blue is repeated in a light fabric with bird-shaped holes in it. Families are encouraged to play together, floating the fabric and observing how the light forms moving shadows through the bird silhouettes. This activity connects to the theme of movement of Gabhann Dunne’s painted birds, which give the impression of being photographed in midair. 

For the smaller ones, Sarah found yet another way to engage with the exhibition, drawing attention to the colour co-ordination in a jigsaw. On a blue background colourful birds have to find their place, which gives young children and their families a chance to think about the blocks of colour in the exhibition. All these items and activities create a memorable connection to the artworks shown and the playful engagement  initiates a positive attitude towards art institutions in general.

Like other Discovery Boxes previously, this one was used outside Uillinn as part of a Curiosity Project with Playgroups all around West Cork. Taking items from the Box with them, artists Tess Leak and Sarah Ruttle visited playgroups encouraging the children to engage creatively with birds and nature and thereby get in touch with Gabhann Dunne’s artwork. ‘This part of the work is only made possible with trusted partnerships we have built over time with Cork County Childcare, ETB and HSE,’ explains Programme Manager: Education & Community, Justine Foster. ‘The partnership allows us to deliver a free to access programme that combats the recognised barriers for our rural community in accessing real life artworks and provides a valuable formative experience that reflects positively on the young children's engagement with museums and galleries for life.’

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and the current closure of the art centre, the Discovery Box could not be used as long as it would normally have been. During the short period of time the box has been in action, it was a great success nevertheless.

Images by Sarah Ruttle

‘Wash your hands!’ says Captain Spock

A meme of Captain Spock telling you to wash your hands, next to the Government’s yellow information sheet on COVID-19 - that is my memory of how the pandemic started to affect the people at Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre. 

At the beginning, everything continued as usual. Workshops took place, meetings were held and exhibitions opened. Of course, everyone respected the new handwashing regulations. They were a reasonable thing to do, and - with Captain Spock’s stern impression as a reminder - hard to forget. Otherwise, there was not much change to be noticed at the Uillinn. But with all this disturbing news from China and Italy flooding the media, people became more careful and  aware of the looming crisis. 

When Taoiseach, Leo Varadka announced closure of all galleries to the public, the doors of Uillinn were duly closed, this was no big surprise. However, the extent of the changes involved, hardly anyone could have imagined; beginning with the cancellation of St. Patrick’s Day parade, cancellation of all the planned public engagements, weekly workshops, Rusty Frog Youth Theatre, Arts for an Active Mind, sessions ceasing on the Arts for Health Programme with closure of Day Centres, redeployment of HSE staff. And of course the closure of the main gallery space showing the recently opened exhibition of William Bock and Gabhann Dunne and all the events associated. 

The global pandemic has hit Uillinns’ arts community right in the heart. After all, it is a place where people come together to live art in all different kinds of ways. It is an integral part of West Cork’s community. “The fact that you can drop in and see a show on the way to the supermarket in the centre of (Skibbereen) town is great. Contemporary, international and local art meets bread and butter! It is an asset to the town and really tries to get people involved.” says artist Mark Beatty. It's inconceivable that this should no longer exist for the time being. 

But there is a silver lining. Fortunately, we live in a time of technical progress, in which social media are an integral part of our everyday life. The big social media platforms have been an incredible asset, helping us all to keep in touch with friends and family. But not only that, it is also an invaluable vehicle to keep things going in the workplace, “The current situation lends itself to screens which is probably why you are writing a blog!” Mark told me, when I asked him about his view of the current situation - and he is absolutely right! But me writing this blog is not the only ball that has started to roll since the closure has been announced. The staff of West Cork Arts Centre have done everything possible to find alternative solutions for the planned programmes, leaning heavily on the opportunities of the world wide web. 

Only a few days after the lockdown, first results of the staff’s hard work could be seen online, with William Bock’s and Gabhann Dunnes’ exhibitions virtual tours, public engagement programmes are transformed into Uillinn Connect with Daily Art Activities for primary school children and parents. The Centre’s website is flourishing, inviting people to rummage and experience a somewhat different view on art. The Arts for Health Programme is undergoing major changes to maintain their creative connect with the older people in long term care, streaming, posting, pre-recording and phoning! Artists on the team; Tess Leak, Sarah Ruttle, and Liz Clark have been working together with Programme Manager, Justine Foster, to find ways to deliver arts projects to the hospitals remotely. “I am currently working with artist Sharon Whooley to create work for a 'Museum of Song Postal Project' which we hope will meaningfully engage with our participants and connect them to us and to other participants in other healthcare settings.This is a creative challenge and one that I am grateful for at present.”, I am told by Tess Leak. Especially in times of this crisis the fear of social isolation is only too present to many people in hospitals or retirement homes.  “As we adjust to isolation from our friends and families” says Sarah Ruttle, “it may only give a small glimpse of what the residents of the hospital are experiencing, so as an artist I hope to aim to reach the participants of the programme with a moment of creativity to make a small difference in their day.” 

The crisis affects us all, every part of our lives - and art can make all the difference! Lying in a hospital, it can help you get through the day. Being forced to stay at home it can be a welcome distraction from your daily routine. For the artists themselves, the situation also has a huge impact. Artist Tess Leak describes that “ this crisis will really make me think about what kind of work I want to create, to understand more deeply what the Arts can contribute to our communities and what is possible in difficult circumstances.” 

Facing all these new difficulties, the pandemic gives us the chance to appreciate the small things that we usually take for granted; reset our priorities. Suddenly, you find yourself making time for the “good stuff”, as Liz Clark puts it, such as “walks with the family, cuddling up together and watching movies. This kind of stuff I was always too busy to do, now I recognise the importance of these simple things.”

So keeping a positive attitude, appreciating the little things and contributing wherever possible, that’s what we can do right now. For everything else, only time can tell. 

Folklore and Fairytales - Artists in Residence 13 January to 17 March

Responding to this year's theme, “Irish Folklore and Fairy Tales” of Skibbereen’s St. Patrick’s Parade, artists Ana Ospina, Alice Halliday and Michael Stephens were commissioned by West Cork Arts Centre and awarded a funded residency at Uillinn from 13 January to 21 March, in partnership with Skibbereen Chamber of Commerce and Cork County Council. Together, the three artists created an engaging and explorative approach towards Irish mythology, inviting the staff of Field’s Supervalue as well as members of Skibbereen’s community to participate. Over the last two months many workshops took place at Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre at which people came together, creating and crafting beautiful costumes to add on to the parade.

But wait a second. Folklore and Fairy-tales. St. Patrick was Christian, wasn’t he? Christianity and Paganism, how does this work? These were my thoughts when I heard of this year's theme for St. Patrick’s Day. 

Irish Folklore dates back millennia, Ana told me, transmitted orally, shaped and changed over time. Only since the Christians arrived in Ireland, the stories were written down - by monks, ironically. Some of the pagan gods and heroes were adopted as saints by Christianity, similar to the Romans adopting Greek Mythology. 

Artist Alice as Brigid

One great example for that is Saint Brigid. In pre-Ireland she was the great Goddess of spring season, fertility, healing, poetry and smithcraft. According to Cormac’s Glossary (that’s the one monks wrote when they arrived in Ireland in the 10th century) Brigid, Goddess of Poetry had two sisters: Brigid the Healer and Brigid the Smith - a triple deity? That sounds very similar to the Christian triple deity of God, if you ask me.

However, in Christianity there is only one God. Luckily, the old Christian monks did not simply wipe out all the old Irish gods and forced people to believe in something completely different, like it sadly happened during colonisation so many times. Forcing people to ignore and forget their cultural heritage is not what the monks had in mind. Instead, they were more considerate and allowed these old Gods a place as Saints in the new Christian world. Arguably, that is how Brigid became a Saint, too. This way, Brigid is kept alive and can be worshipped until this very day. When I researched this, I couldn’t help but be amazed by how respectful of each other's culture people were back then, compared to what I know about colonisation. Religions were merged rather than one forcefully substituted by the other. And I think I better understand now, why this Christian holiday celebrates folklore and fairy-tales: as a reminder of Ireland’s cultural roots, which certainly have a place in today’s Christianity. 

Head Pieces for Main Characters

So let’s get back to the artists in residence at Uillinn, Ana, Alice and Michael who have put so much work and energy into this great project. Many workshops have taken place, and even in times of COVID-19 and the cancellation of parades planned for 17 March, the creative team continued building beehives, sewing costumes, painting masks, crafting bluebells and grain ears and so much more - and they never have stopped smiling and keeping a positive attitude towards the situation, always welcoming those of the community who wanted to contribute while respecting the new social distancing and hand washing directives as they began to role in.

Costume Draping

Bee Hive in the Making

Artist Ana making Bluebells

Stitching Flowers

At the heart of their creative vision are main characters based on traditional Irish folklore - Puca in the shape of a fox, the mermaid, Goddess Brigid, the Green Man and Gobnait, queen of bees - which will be supported by minor characters and surrounded by spectacular props during the parade.

There have been positive responses from so many people, keeping spirits up during these difficult times. Thanks to the artists’ great stamina and the community's engaging work, we can all look forward to finally seeing the colourful outcome of the project. Once the situation allows, the costumes will be staged in an on location photo shoot, the results of which will then be displayed in a virtually for us all to see. For a live experience we can happily await next year's St. Patrick’s Day, where the costumes are likely to be paraded. Until then, stay healthy!

Committed to Falling - Gabhann Dunne

The James O'Driscoll Gallery

29 February to 4 April 2020

Gabhann Dunne's painting installation comprises almost one hundred small oil paintings of migratory birds that are known to visit Ireland, accompanied by a new series of panels depicting extinct or non-native but naturalised plant species found in West Cork.

Gabhann creates eclectic narratives to show how Ireland’s wildlife and human inhabitants have dealt with previous climate change and how we are responding to the climate challenges we are now facing. In the past, hyenas roamed Munster but in the future, water will be diverted from the Shannon to be consumed by millions of citizens in the greater Dublin area – an undertaking with profound implications for the environment and Irish culture. Gabhann says “the commodifying of a resource like the Shannon with all its natural and historical associations was the starting point for reflection on changes wrought by the journeying on water and the migration of wildlife and what they tell us about their identity”.

May you never see the corncrake again!’ (Nár fheice tú an traonach arís) was once a way of wishing someone bad luck or worse, since you were hoping they wouldn’t live to see another summer. The imprecation implies a culture familiar with the corncrake and its distinctive call, and perhaps, more significantly, with the knowledge that it was a summer visitor. Once common throughout Ireland, the corncrake is now almost extinct due to human and climatic factors that stretch from here to its wintering habitats in Africa and the migration routes in between.

Gabhann reflects on changes wrought by the movement of water and the migration of wildlife and what they have to tell us about our identity. He uses colour and gesture to evoke the vulnerability and energy of his subject and asks the viewer to think on issues of emigration, migration, absence and our changing climate.

The artist believes all of these ideas can be mediated through painting without resorting to conceptual conceits. “Gabhann Dunne’s work does not deal in conceptual irony,” Seán Kissane, curator of exhibitions at IMMA, has written, “he is a story-teller and his narratives are those of nature and the world around us. In this he can be compared to Scottish Canadian artist Peter Doig, who demonstrates a similar preoccupation with nature in his painting. Doig, like Dunne, works in a style that straddles figuration and abstraction but he said of his practice, ‘All painting is conceptual. Every painting is an idea. Conceptual art just removes the pleasure of looking – colour and beauty, things like that’. Despite the tragic themes underlying much of Dunne’s [work] he revels in these ‘pleasures of looking’.”

From Co. Kildare and now living in Dublin, Gabhann Dunne is a former winner of the RDS Taylor Art Award and the Hennessy Craig Scholarship at the Royal Hibernian Academy. He studied Fine Art Painting at the Dublin Institute of Technology and at NCAD, Dublin. His recent shows include When the wolves own the island, Molesworth Gallery, Dublin (2019); Crossing the Salt, Limerick City Gallery (2018); In the Presence of Birds (2017) and The Flower’s Pilgrim (2015) at the Molesworth Gallery, Dublin, and Magenta Honey at The Lab, Dublin (2015). He was described by Cristín Leach – writing in The Sunday Times in May, 2015 – as ‘one of the best Irish painters of his generation’.

gabhanndunne.ie

Identity and the Natural Environment: Land Walks, Land Talks, Land Marks - an Exhibition by William Bock

Environment. This big word we encounter everyday. We are assumed to be aware, treat it kindly and with respect. Our negative impact has become uncomfortably apparent over the last decade, as reports about climate change have become louder and louder. One reason things have come this far might be our neglect of the fact that our relationship with the environment is not one-sided. Nature has an undeniable impact on our identity, whether personal, national, cultural or otherwise. With our behaviour towards the environment we do not only directly shape nature itself, but consequently our own identity. One thing we need to remember is:  “We are nature, too!”  as the current Artist in Residence at Uillinn studios, William Bock points out. However, we seem to be so disconnected from our environment that we view the natural landscape as an alien space, a counterpart to our usual life. 

On 29 February 2020 William Bock’s exhibition Land Walks, Land Talks, Land Marks opened together with Gabhann Dunne’s exhibition Committed to Falling at Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre. William uses this opportunity to raise our awareness to how entwined our human world and the natural space actually are.

At the opening event, two artists held an engaging conversation about both of their works, inviting all guests to join in, comment and ask questions. William described his approach in using walks through the landscape as a basis for his current artwork. Over the last year of his work, which was finalized during his one month residency at the West Cork Arts Centre, William Bock initiated many walks around West Cork with diverse groups of people in the locality inclusive of asylum seekers based in Clonakilty. Along the way, he recorded their conversations and nature’s sounds and collected different materials found in the landscape - all of which is exhibited in this current show. 

Within the gallery, William Bock creates a whole world linking the outside space to the inside. By beautifully installing inconspicuous objects, plants and paintings the artist uses the gallery as a stage to give a voice to things that are often overheard. This idea is taken literally during the opening as William asks Composer and Musician Justin Grounds to play on a flute that was made out of wood collected on one of the walks and is now displayed in the exhibition. As visitors we are encouraged to take along Bocks many walks and discover what wonderful things our environment has to offer. Alongside a beautiful display of reed one can find a delicate bevy of Fuchsia, a plant from Chile named after the German herbalist Leonhart Fuchs. Next to it there is a leaf of the Giant Rhubarb or Japanese Knotweed. Both Fuchsia and Knotweed are widely spread all around West Cork. Once foreign to this country, they nowadays are a defining feature of Ireland's landscape - a visualized metaphor for the diversity among West Corks people and their various backgrounds.

William Bock’s exhibition talks about our environment and its impact on our identity. His family’s history is one shaped by migration, flight and movement. Being of Jewish, German and Swedish Background and having grown up in West Cork William Bock is very connected to the idea of leaving. But leaving one place also means arriving at another - and William appears to really have arrived at this place. His works express a deep appreciation of West Cork’s landscape, an environment that he himself calls his ‘natural workspace’. Visitors are invited into this workspace and experience nature, its colours, its sounds, its smell. 

Among all the natural materials we also find relics of human presence: a boot, a mirror, a glove. Here William expresses that we often have a false idea of nature. There is no romantic landscape as a counterpart to our human world. Quite on the contrary, we are inevitably linked to one another. Our concept of nature is a constructed one and there is no such thing as untouched landscape. Everything surrounding us is shaped by people. Especially Agriculture has influenced West Corks environment fundamentally. Therefore, traces of humans within landscape as a part of nature are the most natural thing. The only question we have to ask ourselves is in what way we want to shape it. In this exhibition William Bock suggests that we should try and listen to our real environment, not cling to some romantic fantasy that only exists in our head.

As the focus draws on the colourful pigments collected during his walks and later used for the paintings exhibited in the gallery, people were especially fascinated. To paint with such simple and original colours is not something you encounter every day. Paint usually comes in a tube or bottle, at least that is what we are used to. But in fact, people have used these ‘natural’ materials for centuries. Gall ink, as Bock explains, is one of the oldest inks ever found in historical writings. Again it becomes apparent how disconnected from nature we really are. However William does not point fingers. Rather he opens up the chance of having a share of his thoughts and rethink one’s own ideas of the environment in a peaceful and homey atmosphere. As wooden furniture invites us to sit down we can simply listen and let his beautiful exhibition work on us at its own pace.

Photographs by Stella Gilfert and Maik Gödecke

International artists unfold time and space in new performance created at Uillinn 

inSkin is a live video, dance and art installation
This new work is created for a gallery setting by a group of international artists all with a connection to West Cork and Uillinn.  Originally conceived by West Cork dance artist in residence at Uillinn Mairéad Vaughan (Ireland), in collaboration with Tomasz Madajczak (Poland), Helle Kvamme (Sweden), Lily Horgan and Charlie Dunne (UK), it will premiere at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre on Saturday 19 October. This is the first performance of this year’s Uillinn Dance Season https://www.westcorkartscentre.com/dance-season

Mairéad who moved to Ballydehob to work as dance artist in residence at Uillinn at the beginning of the year, is originally from Blarney, County Cork and has spent her career travelling the world, learning and performing, “I am passionate about highlighting our deep, inherent, embodied connection to our environment through my dance practice”.  She travelled to remote regions in India, Borneo, Malaysia, Thailand, Artic Circle, Peru and Equador and these remote environments influenced her choreographic work. She recently completed her Arts Practice PhD researching our embodied relationship with our environment.

All artists collaborating on the project hold a connection with the local environment. Multimedia artist Tomasz Madajczak originally from Poland has been living and working as an artist in the West Cork for the past ten years and only recently began exploring dance and movement in his work.  "This new way of work is very inspiring and will influence my further artistic explorations" explained Tomasz.

While on residency at Uillinn, Mairéad met UK dance artists Lily Horgan and Charlie Dunne who delivered a community dance project this summer, ‘Anonymous’ that explored social perception and gender difference. The dance duo, known as Meta4 Dance Company are regular visitors to West Cork, staying with family in Schull, where Lily spent much of her childhood.

Helle Kvamme, a visual artist from Sweden is also a regular visitor to the region having lived in Clonakilty after studying art in Crawford College of Art and Design. Helle also spent time on a residency at Uillinn early in 2018.

All of the artists recognise the value of working in West Cork and Uillinn especially, as a place that nurtures diverse collaborations, providing a unique platform for artist to come together and create new work, “We have such a strong connection with the local area and therefore it feels like we all have a common starting point from which our creative process for inSkin unfolds”

Performance Credits
Dance, Video, Choreographer Mairéad Vaughan
Visual artist Tomasz Madajczak
Visual artist Helle Kvamme
Dance artist Lilly Horgan
Dance artist Charlie Dunne
Sound and Video Art Dara O' Brien

Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre, Saturday 19 October, 12noon, 3:00pm and 6:00pm

inSkin has been funded under the Arts Council’s Dance Residency Award in partnership with Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre and Cork County Council

Artist Biographies:

Mairead Vaughan (maireadvaughan.com) is a dance artist, choreographer, researcher/writer and facilitator. She graduated from Northern School of Contemporary Dance (UK) with a degree in Performing Arts (Dance), The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance (IWAMD, University of Limerick) with an M.A. in Contemporary Dance Performance and more recently with an
Arts Practice PhD (IWAMD) researching our symbiotic relationship with our environment.
Mairead co-founded Shakram Dance Company (1999-2014) for which she created thirteen original choreographic works supported by the Arts Council of Ireland. Her travel to remote regions in India, Peru, Ecuador, Borneo, Malaysia and Thailand informed her earlier choreography. Her work is multi- disciplinary in nature and ranges from theatre, live voice and sound, dance video and film, site-specific and installation performance, all of which toured and performed nationally and internationally (Dublin Dance Festival, the Illios Festival, Norway, the World Congress of Dance Research, Athens and Kalmar Art Museum, Sweden). Mairéad has been highly influenced by the choreographers she has worked directly with, including Mary Nunan (IRE),
Steve Paxton (USA), Yoshiko Chuma (Japan), Wendy Houston (UK), Joan Davis (IRE), Sondra Loring (USA), K.J. Holmes (USA), Christine Devany (UK), Mark Baldwin (UK) and Jody Melnick (USA).

Tomasz Madajczak is a multimedia artist who lives in West Cork since 2010. He emigrated from Poland where he obtained MA in Photography and Multimedia Art. Tomasz works with concepts related to space and the relation between our way of internalising our experience of who we are and how that relats and influences the creation of the space which surrounds us. Tomasz's works incorporate photography, video, sound in forms of interactive installations which are complemented by the presence of the visitor (the viewer).

Meta4 dance Company was created through a love of movement between both Charlie Dunne and Lily Horgan, stemming from a creative rapport and language that we could freely converse in. The dancers found a shared career path having studied together at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. We want to make work that is transparent, important and engaging. As well as delivering meaningful, worthwhile and exciting experiences for all.

Helle Kvamme, Norweigian artist based in Sweden, graduated from Crawford College of Art and design 2004. She creates a dialogical space through photography; film, movement, found objects and organic materials. Fundamental to her practice is the creation of new platforms where artists can meet and dialogue can emerge. For several years, her place of research and point of departure has been a hazelforeston the east coast of Sweden. She invites people to interact, work and engage with. She has in recent years worked with cultural heritage sites in collaboration with Archeologist to question how we read time and findings that are of immaterial nature.

Photographs by Tomasz Madajczak