Sunday 27 November 2011

School project 2009

As part of the Cork Harbour Project – Beyond the Myths 2008 John McHarg & Ned Cotter ran a series of school-workshops titled ‘Rocky Shore Harbour Project’ with the Windy Lane Puppet Theatre, Youghal, Co. Cork.

‘Rocky Shore Harbour Project’
Sirius Arts Centre
24th February 10.30am – 12.30pm 2009

As part of the ‘Cork Harbour Project – Beyond the Myths’ John McHarg, Ned Cotter, Vanessa O’Loughlin & Birgit O’Driscoll ran a series of school-workshops with the Windy Lane Puppeteers: Sarah Jennings, Christy O’Keeffe, Paddy O’Sullivan, Billy Flynn & Laurence Fitzgerald (based in Youghal). 

They shared their expertise and skills with primary school children to foster an appreciation for their local environment through a series of visits to local beaches, hosted by Naturalist Jim Wilson, and art workshops exploring the art of puppetry. Working in three different schools from the harbour area; 4th class students from Rushbrooke National School in Cobh; 5th and 6th class students from Aghada N.S. in Aghada; and 5th and 6th class students from South Abbey N.S. in Youghal the children will present the results from these workshops at a private showing in the Sirius Arts Centre on Tuesday 24th February between 10.30am and 12.30pm.

With thanks to Cork County Council, FAS, SEACAD South and East Cork Area Development, Arts Council & HSE Health Service Executive.







Seminar event 2008


Seminar Saturday 13th September / 2-5.30pm 2008
Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Co. Cork

1. Introduction to the project and welcome address by Sarah Iremonger
2. Case studies between participants from the Lab process:
Lieutenant Commander Cormac Rynne from Houlbowline Naval Base; artists Martin Sims, Allan Giddy from Australia and Danny McCarthy from Cork.
3. Presentation by Cork Greenmap Walking Tour project, Cork.
4. Presentation from John McHarg & Ned Cotter ‘Rocky Shore Harbour Project’ with the Windy Lane Puppet Theatre, Youghal, Co. Cork, school -workshops and puppet performance.
5. Presentation by Allan Giddy, Sonic Wells project, Cork Harbour & Sydney Harbour.
6. Open discussion / Questions & Answers.




Sonic Wells off-site project 2008


SONIC WELLS is a Site Specific Public Art Project by Allan Giddy 


Launch - Ryan’s Bar, Casement Square, Cobh 8pm Saturday 13th & Mercantiles Hotel, Sydney, Australia 11am Sunday 14th September 2008


Allan Giddy
Wells, water holes, hot springs and billabongs were until recently central meeting points for communities worldwide. Two ‘sonic wells’ have been built one in Cobh, the other in Sydney, creating a virtual hole (12,720 kilometers long) through the Earth connecting Ireland with Australia. Each well will collect ambient sounds which, transmitted live, will be emitted from its sister well. Thus, for instance, people seated around the well in Cobh will hear live audio as it is incident at the well in Sydney, and vice versa.


Created by Australian based New Zealand artist Allan Giddy this site specific installation investigates how wells, water holes, hot springs and billabongs have, until recently, been central meeting points for communities worldwide. Two ‘sonic wells’ have been built; one in Cobh, the other in Sydney, creating a virtual hole (12,720 kilometers long) through the Earth connecting Ireland with Australia.



Each well will collect ambient sounds which, transmitted live, will be emitted from its sister well. Thus, for instance, people seated around the well in Cobh will hear live audio as it is incident at the well in Sydney, and vice versa.

Cork Harbour Project, Beyond the Myths is a dynamic exhibition including a public seminar, a site specific installation, walking tour and schools project was developed through a series of interactive meetings and workshops/laboratories supported by Sirius Arts Centre’s artist in residence programme. International and local artists, community groups, experts in natural history and representatives from the local authority were brought together with the aim of raising awareness about this unique natural habitat.

Cork Harbour Project, Beyond the Myths is the first phase of projects drawn from these laboratories.  The resulting projects are a reflection of unique partnerships formed during the 2007 laboratories. 


























Walk and Mapping events 2008
















Walking Tour with Jim Wilson from Passage West to Hop Island
Sunday 14th September 2:00pm – Meet at Passage West Playground

Cork Greenmap have produced a guide, which maps a walking route along the shore of Cork Harbour from Hop Island to Monkstown Creek.

A myriad of history, wildlife and natural beauty is waiting to be experienced from Hop Island to Monkstown Creek in Ireland's largest natural harbour. As part of the Cork Harbour Project – Beyond the Myths 2008, Cork Greenmap have produced a walking guide of this beautiful stretch of the harbour. Home to industry and terminus to the first railway line in Cork, it was also a favored holiday destination during the 19th Century. It continues to be much-enjoyed by walkers, cyclists, sailors and fishermen who appreciate its natural setting and character. The walk passes through Passage West on its way to Monkstown. Inhabited by local and migrant birds the ecology of the area is of international importance. The guide will provide information for you as you take to the trail.

Cork Greenmap is a sustainable community development project, the overall aim of which is to raise awareness of sustainable living issues.  Through mapping and other events, Greenmap engages people in the enhancement of the social, ecological, environmental and alternative economic aspects of their communities. 






Images of Beyond the Myths exhibition event 2008




















Beyond the Myths exhibition event 2008








































List of participating artists:

Exhibition Beyond the Myths 13 September – 5 October 2008


1. Ciara Healy (Ireland / UK)
When a sense of place or home is lost through social or environmental change we often attempt to make tangible what is missing and absent. In order to come to terms with this loss, we romanticise what has been left behind precisely because it is no longer physically tangible.

2. Dieter Buchhart (Austria)
 Critically tackling the relation of society and nature in his installation work, Dieter invites the visitor to participate to complete the work. In the project ‘House for Urtica - Cork’ the weed Urtica dioíca, the great stinging nettle, is part of the artwork.

3. Meaghan Schwelm (USA)
Meaghan makes art to find things again. She develops installations, dwellings, garments, and artifacts from mechanically reproducible or industrial materials and ephemera.

4. Julia Pallone (Cork)
Over the last 10 years I have been developing my art practice involving drawings, photography, sculpture, installations and performances. My work is conceptual and focuses on expression with a poetic and surrealistic vision of the world, be it by analogy, similarity or evocation of ideas.

5. Colette Lewis (Cork)
The Harbour was experienced as a natural extension, bridging communities across the water. In this era of the car it is considered more of a barrier separating and dividing communities. I’ve created a collection of 'greeting postcards' which function as 'views' to engage communities that inhabit the Harbour.

6. Mara Scrupe (USA)
The activity of borrowing and interpreting images from the natural world – whether mediated or wild - is an ages-old process, one which is deeply etched in the human psyche and memory and belies a seemingly insatiable human need for associations with nature.

7. Tom Fannon (Cobh, Co. Cork)
I love the way you can play with the paint on the canvas until you find something that works.  The hardest part is to know when to leave it alone.  I paint simply for the enjoyment and to leave behind a piece of myself.

8. David Kavanagh (Cork)
Science is constantly opening up new frontiers of knowledge, but ignorance expands in tandem, it often seems that every new discovery gives rise to a number of new questions. This results in an enormous playing field of theory and counter theory, mystery and revelation.

9. Mary Gough (Conna, Co. Cork)
Loves to paint "en plain air" where the stimulus of the immediacy gives a unique vibrancy and liveliness. Works also from sketches made on location.

10) Allan Giddy (Australia)
His sound and video work 'Stations of the Cross' shows crows vying to roost on St. Colman's Cathedral in Cobh. They 'recompose' The Wild Colonial Boy through (Bells/organ/choir), as each point of the cross is made active to their touch.

11. Martin Sims (Australia)
The artwork is envisaged by inverting most of the physical characteristics of a Martello Tower through transcribing its shape and essential contours - both interior and exterior – into transparent, visible form.

12. Danny McCarthy (Midleton, Co. Cork)
"Sounding d (harbour)" This work is created from field recordings made at various sites around Cork Harbour including boat trips made as part of the "Lab. Days" which formed an integral part of the project. A soundscape is created making the listener aware of the acoustic ecology of the area.

Acknowledgments
The Cork Harbour Project was created, managed and realized by Sarah Iremonger for Sirius Arts Centre, with help from Jim Wilson who initially conceived the idea of connecting artists with the unique environment of Cork Harbour.

The Cork Harbour Project could not have taken place without help from the Arts Council through a New Project award 2007 and the Cork County Council’s Arts Award Scheme 2007 & 2008.

Special thanks to all the artists and speakers who participated in Lab 1 & Lab 2 in 2007

For the realization of this exhibition and related events, thanks to everyone at the Sirius Arts Centre; Cobh and Passage West / Monkstown Town Councils; Paul and Gemma O’Halloran of Ryan’s Bar, Cobh; Danny Halligan; The Mercantile Hotel, Sydney, Australia; Birgit O’Driscoll & ECAD East Cork Area Development; Alice D’Arcy, Sophie Le Roch and Sébastien Bertrand of Cork Greenmap also Naomi Fein; Lieutenant Commander Cormac Rynne, Irish Navy; Ted Creedon; O’Leary Insurance; Jane Smith, Office of Public Works Ireland OPW; Jamil Yamani Technical Programmer, College of fine Arts COFA; University of New South Wales UNSW; The Environmental Research Institute for Art ERIA; Sydney Olympic park Authority




























Events description 2008

































Cork Harbour Project - Beyond the Myths


Exhibition & Public Seminar 13th September 2008
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seminar / Saturday 13th September / 2pm - 5.30pm
Opening Reception in Sirius Arts Centre / Saturday 13th September / 6pm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Cork Harbour Project - Beyond the Myths' was developed in Sirius Arts Centre’s Artist in Residency Programme. In 2007 a series of interactive meetings and workshops called laboratories Lab 1 & Lab 2 took place in the Sirius building. International and local artists, community groups, experts in natural history and representatives from the local authority were brought together with the aim of raising awareness about Cork Harbour Beyond the Myths is the first phase of projects drawn from these laboratories. 

The resulting projects are a reflection of unique partnerships that formed during the 2007 laboratories.  Beyond the Myths includes an exhibition, a seminar, a schools project, walking tour and site specific installation.

Cork Harbour is in the process of change, this vital natural resource offers a remarkable opportunity for investigation for visiting and local artists. The size and unique mixture of environments provide a perfect backdrop with which to develop a project of this type. The natural places of Cork Harbour hold great significance for us in terms of industry, agriculture, fishing and other maritime enterprise, and leisure activities.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seminar Saturday 13th September / 2-5.30pm
Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Co. Cork

There was a seminar on Saturday 13th September at 2pm to explore how the work in this exhibition came about, how the unique partnerships created through the residency programme affected the artists and the experts involved. With an introduction by Sarah Iremonger and case studies between participants from the Lab process who will include Lieutenant Commander Cormac Rynne from Houlbowline Naval Base; artists Martin Sims, Allan Giddy from Australia and Danny McCarthy from Cork. There will also be a presentation by Cork Greenmap who are hosting a Walking Tour with Jim Wilson on Sunday 14th, a presentation by John McHarg & Ned Cotter who have created the ‘Rocky Shore Harbour Project’ with the Windy Lane Puppet Theatre, Youghal, Co. Cork. This will be followed by an introduction by Allan Giddy to his Sonic Wells project and an open public discussion / questions & answers session.

For more information contact Sarah Iremonger at:
Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Co. cork, Ireland
Tel: 00353 (0)21 4813790